Missing Scenes
by Catflower Queen
Summary: A look at what might have been going on behind the scenes during the gameplay of "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of the Sky". No particular order. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.
1. Chapter 1: Time to Heal

**Missing Scenes**

**A Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of the Sky Fanfiction by the Catflower Queen**

**Chapter 1: Time to Heal**

Chatot sighed, giving one last glance towards the room before shaking his head and slowly making his way down the hallway. When he exited into the main area, he saw that the apprentices were huddling together in small groups, quietly talking among themselves. When they noticed his appearance in the room, all talking ceased as they quickly gathered around him.

It was silent until Dugtrio found the strength to ask what was on everyone's minds. "How are they doing?"

Chatot sighed. "Azelf seems the least injured. He had some gashes and bruising from where he fell to the ground, but it's mostly exhaustion. Whatever he did to set up that crystal barrier almost completely drained him of energy, so it wouldn't have taken a lot of effort to beat him. He'll be fine after he rests."

Dugtrio gulped. "And… and Team Rainbow?" he asked.

Chatot closed his eyes and took a big breath. Once he had composed himself, he launched into his explanation. "Paula… appears to have taken a great number of blows to the chest. Her ribs aren't broken, but they _are_ heavily bruised. She also has a large number of gashes, the largest being the one across her cheek-likely resulting from Grovyle trying to injure one of her electrical pouches-and the one on her upper arm."

"Is… is her electrical pouch okay?" Croagunk asked, showing an out-of-the-ordinary amount of compassion. No one was too surprised, though. After all, the poison glands of a croagunk were similar to the electrical pouches of a pikachu in that both were in roughly the same area on the cheeks, and if something damaged them it would either severely lessen the amount and power of the electric/poison attacks that could be produced or it would leave the pokémon unable to use any electric/poison attacks at all. If anyone in the guild could empathize with Paula about such an injury, it would be Croagunk.

"Yes, thank Arceus, her pouch wasn't damaged. But it was very close," Chatot explained. "Aside from that, Paula will be fine once she gets over her exhaustion."

Everyone sighed in relief. But the relief was short-lived when everyone saw how Chatot's face had rapidly drained of color and he had to close his eyes. "Laura, however…"

Everyone glanced at each other, sharing looks of terror, before Sunflora asked, "O-oh my gosh… what's… what's wrong with Laura?"

Chatot had to look away and take a shaky breath. He was very quiet when he gravely answered, "Laura… I am honestly fearful of her chances for survival."

Everyone displayed looks of horror.

"Hey, hey! You're joking, right? There's no way that's true!" Corphish begged.

"What's the matter with her?" Chimecho whispered in despair.

"When that… that _criminal_," Chatot spat the word out with venom, "threw her to the side at the end of the fight, he broke her arm. Unlike Paula, Laura's ribs _were_ broken, and on some parts of her body her skin was so cut up that it resembled ribbons. The amount of blood she lost… at this point, her immune system will be too weak to handle something as simple as a cold without leaving her…" he trailed off, unwilling to complete the sentence, before shaking his head. He sighed, continuing, "It appears that she tried to take the brunt of Grovyle's attacks, likely because their matching types would make the moves less effective on her. And all that is leaving aside her exhaustion." When Chatot finished, he bowed his head and whispered, "At this point, all we can do is wait and hope for the best."

Everyone was silent and teary-eyed.

"Well…" Loudred began. "At least her LEG wasn't broken. Then she'd have to try limping around like a NORMAL treecko, for once."

With that, Sunflora practically exploded at him. "OH MY GOSH!" She shrieked. "Loudred, why would you even SAY something like that?! Did you not hear what Chatot said? Laura could _DIE_, and you're over here making jokes about how she walks!"

"C-calm down, Sunflora! He didn't mean to ridicule her," Chimecho said in an attempt to soother her friend. "He was just trying to look at the positive side of things… _right_, Loudred?" Chimecho asked, glaring at him in a way that said "Your answer better be 'Yes' or you will be in a _world_ of pain."

Loudred gulped. "The p-positive side of things… RIGHT…"

"Well it DIDN'T WORK!" Sunflora yelled again before she burst into tears and started sobbing into her leaves.

Loudred and Chimecho tried to calm her down while Chatot turned to the remaining guild members.

"Where did Guildmaster Wigglytuff go?" he wearily asked.

"Oh," Diglett began, tearing his eyes away from the scene of the distraught Sunflora. "He, ah, he went to get Officer Magnezone to tell him of the recent developments," Diglett explained. "He didn't want to go, considering…" he trailed off, looking towards his injured friends. He sighed before continuing, "But he figured that there might be a chance to catch Grovyle if we acted quickly."

Chatot nodded his approval before asking, "Has the great Dusknoir returned yet?"

Bidoof shook his head. "No siree. No one's seen him since we left for Crystal Cave."

"All right," Chatot sighed.

"Hey, hey… you should get some rest, Chatot. We'll look after Team Rainbow and Azelf for you," Corphish offered, seeing Chatot's exhaustion.

"Thank you," Chatot said, giving a weak smile. But the smile quickly became a frown when he added, "Be sure to wake me if… if anything happens."

"Um… is there anything we can do to help them at all?" Chimecho asked timidly, looking away from Sunflora now that her sobs had trickled into small sniffles.

Chatot sadly shook his head. "The only thing we can do for them now is give them time to heal."


	2. Chapter 2: Awake

**Chapter 2: Awake**

Azelf's eyes flew open as he awoke with a start. He shot upright, into the air, only for his extreme dizziness to cause him to immediately fall back down. He groaned as he waited for the world to stop spinning. Once the dizziness subsided, he glanced around suspiciously at his surroundings. He was in a circular room. Judging by the roots growing in the walls, he was underground. But there was a window to the outside… did that mean the room was in the side of a cliff? It was dark out… but Azelf couldn't tell if it was night or day.

Azelf glanced at the exit. He couldn't _see_ anything that would prevent him from leaving, but that meant nothing. After all, you couldn't see his crystal barrier until he activated it. Azelf frowned. Come to think of it… he couldn't really remember what had happened after he activated the barrier. He could vaguely recall the blurry images of two Pokémon rushing up to stand between him and the thief… but that was it.

A soft sigh broke Azelf from his musings and he immediately stiffened. He slowly glanced to his right and noticed that there were two other beds in the room, and that both had pokémon sleeping in them who, judging from the excessive bandaging, were heavily injured. He frowned as he observed them. The one closest to him was a pikachu. She had a large bandage plastered over her cheek and another on her upper arm. She had her ribs wrapped up tightly, and she had faded bruises here and there.

The treecko beside her was in even worse shape. Her arm was in a splint and her ribs were even more heavily wrapped than the pikachu's. The parts of her skin that weren't covered in bandages displayed bruises of mottled shades of purple. He winced in sympathy. Then he frowned. The two looked so familiar… but why?

Azelf snapped his fingers when the realization hit him. Those two had been the ones who had rushed to his rescue once he had erected the barrier! But from the looks of it… Grovyle had really put them through the wringer.

"You have my thanks," Azelf murmured.

"Oh my gosh! You're awake!" A cheery voice came from behind him. Azelf whipped around in surprise.

A sunflora was standing at the room's entrance, pressing her leaves to her cheeks and looking gleeful. "Oh wow! This is wonderful!" she exclaimed. "I just came in here to check on you. I didn't expect that you'd be awake!"

"I… huh?" Azelf stammered, her exuberance throwing him for a loop. "I, uh… Who are you?"

"Oh! How silly of me! I'm Sunflora, an apprentice at Wigglytuff's Guild," she explained.

"I take it that's where we are, then?" Azelf asked, gesturing to his surroundings.

"Yes! We brought you here after you collapsed at the lake."

"What of Grovyle?" he inquired.

The Sunflora sighed. "We don't know. By the time we got there, he had already left…"

"But obviously not before giving those two a serious beating," Azelf said, glancing back at his two saviors.

"Eek! Oh my gosh! I almost forgot about them! How embarrassing!" Sunflora exclaimed, hurriedly picking up a box of medical supplies that she had dropped in her excitement at seeing Azelf awake.

She tended to the pikachu first. She cleaned her wounds and changed her bandages before re-fluffing her pillow and pouring a liquid concoction of healing seeds and berries down her throat. When she moved to the treecko, Azelf noticed that the bandage around the pikachu's arm was no longer there, likely because the injury had healed.

In surprise he noted that the only thing Sunflora did for the treecko was re-fluff her pillows and give her the healing liquid.

"You aren't going to change her bandages as well?"

Sunflora shook her head. "No," she sighed. "Paula's condition has improved enough that I can tend to her, but I'm still too inexperienced to handle a condition as critical as Laura's. Chatot will have to come do it later."

"I understand," Azelf nodded. Then he paused as something she had said repeated in his mind. His eyes widened. "Did you say 'Laura'?"

"Yeah," Sunflora said, cocking her head. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, that's… no," he assured. He glanced over at Laura before frowning and shaking his head. "I… a long time ago I knew a girl with the same name… but there's no way the two are the same. It just… brought up some memories. That's all. I'm fine."

Sunflora shrugged. "If you say so. Ooh! Now that you're awake, you should come out and see the rest of the guild!"

* * *

Sunflora dragged him out to the main area. A cheerful chimecho gave him something to eat while the rest of the guild filled him in on what had happened after he collapsed. He reacted with shock when he found out that he'd been sleeping for two full days and it was now the morning of the third day. As he hung out with the guild he noticed that they were all very friendly and cheerful, but their friends' conditions muted their joy.

Azelf assured them he had felt a strong will to recover from each of them-a will that was especially strong in Laura, for some reason-and they brightened up a bit.

Azelf stayed at the guild for two more days, and he was just as glad as everyone else when Chimecho finally rang her bell and announced, "Everyone! They're awake!"


	3. Chapter 3: Rumor

**Chapter 3: Rumor**

Grovyle stuck to the shadows as he travelled. It was times like these that he almost missed the paralyzed future; it was certainly easier to hide in the shadows when the shadows were everywhere. But when that thought crept into his mind, Grovyle always pushed it away. This bright world was _far_ better than the paralyzed one… even if it _did_ make hiding inconvenient.

Grovyle slowed down when he noticed the bell on the post near the crossroads. His heart leapt with a mixture of hope and anxiety. The bell meant that he was at the border of his destination-Treasure Town. On the one hand it was good because it meant that soon he'd get a decent shot at some information... but it also meant that he would need to excercise extreme caution. He had a greater chance of being recognized here. Not only was the town near the famous Wigglytuff Guild, but history had said that explorers often visited Treasure Town. Plus, he still had no idea if Dusknoir had stopped chasing him yet.

* * *

"When I heard the rumor, I just couldn't believe it!" the swellow exclaimed as he flew above his wurmple partner.

"It does seem a bit rash," the wurmple agreed.

"Oh, speaking of rash things… it would be rash for us to be unprepared for the dungeons. Are you sure we have enough food?" the swallow inquired. "After all, it wouldn't be good to get hungry because we ran out!" the swallow laughed.

"H-hungry? Eep! N-no, that wouldn't be good at all!" the wurmple agreed, suddenly terror-stricken as he eyed his partner suspiciously.

From his hiding place behind the bush, Grovyle watched them leave. He shook his head in silent mirth. _"What? Does he expect that his partner will try to eat him?" _Grovyle wondered._ "What an absurd thought…"_ He frowned. _"Still… that's the third reference I've heard so far to a mysterious 'rumor'… what's going on?"_

He carefully and quietly made his way over to the Kecleon brothers' shop and hid in the bushes behind it. The few dungeon operated shops in the future had always been staffed with chatty kecleon employees. If _these_ kecleon were anything like their descendants, then one of them would likely coax the rumor out of their customers, if they didn't let it slip themselves.

Grovyle could hear voices. The kecleon were talking to someone. He grinned to himself, _"Looks like I came at the right time."_ He peeked through the leaves of the bush and was shocked at what he saw. _"It's _those_ two!"_

Indeed, standing mere feet away from him was the duo who had twice tried to stop him, first in the Underground Lake and then in Crystal Lake. He took a moment to observe them.

The pikachu seemed no worse for wear. Her injuries from their recent "scuffle" appeared to have healed nicely. Grovyle was relieved to see that her electrical pouch wasn't damaged from where he had clawed into her cheek. He shifted his eyes over to the treecko… and was decidedly displeased.

The treecko still had multiple bandages wrapped around her body, and he could still see evidence of severe bruising. He noticed that her arm was in a sling. _"I guess I broke it after all… I _thought_ I heard a snap,"_ he winced. "_Poor girl. That must make it hard to walk. I remember what it was like being a treecko… I _hated_ having to walk on four legs. I was so jealous of-"_ Grovyle stopped that train of thought and shook his head._ "What am I doing? I need to concentrate on the conversation!"_

"…and that shipment of Oran Berries will arrive tomorrow," the green kecleon was saying. "Although, we do have three or four in stock if you need them immediately," he added, giving a meaningful glance towards the injured treecko.

The treecko blushed while her partner assured, "No, we're fine for now. Chatot said that he'd have some medicine ready when we got back from talking with you. We're confined to doing small errands for now, since he hasn't cleared us for exploration yet."

The pikachu frowned at this, but the older, purple kecleon gently said, "That's probably for the best. That thief gave you two some serious injuries! Honestly, Paula, we were surprised you two even showed up at the meeting!"

The pikachu-Paula, Grovyle corrected himself-smiled at her partner. "Guildmaster Wigglytuff gave us permission to stay home, but my friend here was very insistent that we go. Even if she _did_ almost faint afterwards," she teased.

Everyone laughed when the treecko huffed indignantly and pointedly looked away, blushing. Even Grovyle couldn't hide a grin at the girl's apparent stubbornness. He quickly sobered up as the purple kecleon continued to talk.

"Still, that rumor… it really is an ingenious plan!" he exclaimed.

"Yes," the green one agreed. "Sealing away the Time Gears… will it really work?"

Grovyle froze. _They're… they're going to seal away the Time Gears? This… this is terrible! I have to do something!"_ he internally panicked. He quickly fled the scene in order to plan out his next move.

Unbeknownst to him, the treecko was staring at the spot where he had just been hiding.

* * *

"I mean… how can we be sure he'll even hear of the rumor?" the younger kecleon asked his brother.

The purple kecleon shrugged. "I suppose we'll just have to hope for the best." He noticed that Laura was looking intently at the bushes behind their shop. "Laura? All you all right?" he asked with concern, causing his brother and Paula to cast their gazes on her.

Laura blinked and looked back at him before quietly saying, "I'm fine. I thought I saw something."

Paula frowned and went over to look. "I don't see anything," she said as she peered into the bushes. "Are you sure you're all right?" she asked, frowning at her friend in concern. For a response, Laura rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"In any case, shouldn't you be heading back to the guild?" the green kecleon asked. "You said something about medicine…?"

"Oh! Right!" Paula exclaimed. "Come on Laura, let's get going!"

Laura sighed as Paula led her back through town. "Honestly, Paula, I'm _fine_," Laura insisted.

"You're just saying that because you don't want to drink that disgusting medicine anymore," Paula joked. Laura rolled her eyes and Paula became serious again. "Really, Laura. I know you say you're feeling better, but everyone just wants to make sure. You heard what Chatot said: you almost died!"

Laura merely sighed in resignation as they continued their trek back.

"Hey! Team Rainbow!" they heard a voice call. The duo paused and glanced back to see Vigoroth hailing them.

"Hey, Vigoroth! What's up?" Paula greeted.

"I've just been wandering around Treasure Town, you know? And I just _had_ to share this with you. You know how Grovyle's been stealing all the Time Gears? Well, I just heard this _amazing_ rumor…"


	4. Chapter 4: Plain Seeds

**Chapter 4: Plain Seeds**

It had been a few weeks since Team Rainbow had joined the guild, and they were settling in nicely. However, they still had a few questions about the guild's inner workings.

"So you're saying that Chimecho cooks all the meals? Every single day?" a surprised Paula asked Dugtrio one night as everyone waited for the call to dinner.

"Of course," Dugtrio replied in a somewhat condescending manner. "Did you not notice that she is never out here with the rest of us, waiting for dinner?"

"Of course I _noticed_," Paula huffed. "I just thought there was, like, a weekly rotation, or something."

"No," Dugtrio stated. "Chimecho is the only one who cooks."

"Well, she's not the _only_ one," Sunflora corrected, suddenly joining in on the conversation. "She doesn't do it _every_ day… just most days."

"And she doesn't get tired of it?" Paula asked in disbelief. "I'd get tired of it pretty fast. Wouldn't you?" she asked, turning towards Laura who had, as usual, been listening without giving any comments. Laura shrugged in response.

"She told me she likes to cook," Sunflora said before she gave a smile and crept closer to Team Rainbow. "Besides… I think she's trying to impress someone," she confided in a whisper, cupping a leaf to her mouth.

"Really? Who?" Paula asked in her own whisper. Sunflora pointed in Croagunk's direction. "What? No way!" Paula exclaimed loudly. Laura winced at the noise and several other pokémon turned in her direction.

"Eek! Not so loud!" Sunflora exclaimed, putting one leaf over Paula's mouth and putting the other to her lips in a shushing gesture. "It's just a theory. And do _not_ tell her I said that! It's too embarrassing!"

"We got it, Sunflora. We won't tell a soul," Paula assured, with Laura nodding in agreement.

"Everyone! Dinner's ready!" Chimecho suddenly called from the dining room.

"HOORAY!" Everyone cheered.

* * *

Everyone stared at their plates when they sat down.

"Ugh… _Plain Seeds_?" Loudred complained, staring at the big pile of seeds on his plate. "Why'd you use _THEM_?"

"We had a lot in the larder," Chimecho explained, just as unhappy as everyone else. "If I hadn't used them today, they would have gone to waste."

"So what? Plain Seeds are DISGUSTING!"

"Oh, hush!" Chatot reprimanded (although he silently shared the sentiment). "Just eat them. If your plate isn't clean by the end of the night, then no dinner for you tomorrow!" he decreed. He looked out at the apprentices (and Wigglytuff) to see the many expressions of disgust and added, "That goes for all of you!"

Everyone grumbled as they grudgingly began to eat. Laura, however, just looked confused.

"I can't BELIEVE we actually have to EAT this," Loudred grumbled to Bidoof, who was sitting next to him.

"Oof… I have to agree with you there," Bidoof said. "Even _I _don't like it."

"Hey, hey! I have an idea…" Corphish whispered conspiratorially, motioning Loudred closer.

* * *

"Ugh… we were _already_ forced to eat Plain Seeds once today when we ran out of food in the dungeon!" Paula complained to Laura, who was eating in silence. "Just our luck! I can't believe we have to eat them _again!_"

Just then, Paula and Laura's plates were pulled away from them. "What the-? Hey!" Paula spluttered while Laura jolted in shock.

"Sorry, it's newbie initiation," Loudred smirked as he pushed their plates back over to them. There were considerably more Plain Seeds on them than there had been before. "You have to eat all of our Plain Seeds!"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Paula complained as she looked over at Loudred and Corphish, whose plates were now empty of the offending food item.

"Sorry, rules are rules!" Corphish said in a sing-song voice.

Paula huffed, crossing her arms and staring at her plate. "I can't believe this," she muttered. She glanced over at Laura, who was calmly eating her meal. "How can you just sit there so calmly and e_at _that?" Paula asked incredulously, gaping at the sight.

Laura frowned. "It tastes good."

Everyone abruptly stopped what they were doing to stare at her in shock.

"Oh my gosh! You actually _like_ this?" Sunflora asked in disbelief.

"Of course. I love Plain Seeds!" Laura answered.

Sunflora just stared at her in shock before snapping back to reality. "Here then! You can have mine!" she offered.

"Mine too!" Bidoof exclaimed.

"And mine!" Wigglytuff shouted.

Soon everyone had given Laura their Plain Seeds (and Chatot had turned a blind eye to it because he, too, had secretly given his to her) and she was staring at her plate with amazement.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed before she happily dug in. Everyone watched in wonder.

"Meh heh heh… yet another thing to add to the list of 'Weird Things about Laura,'" Croagunk chuckled. "Who would've thought that someone existed who actually _liked_ eating Plain Seeds?"


	5. Chapter 5: Quiet

**Chapter 5: Quiet**

"Hey, hey! It really _is_ odd," Corphish said to Bidoof and Loudred. They were waiting in their room for the other apprentices to gather so that they could begin their nightly meeting.

"Meh heh heh… What's odd?" Croagunk asked as he entered the room, followed by Chimecho and Sunflora.

"Indeed," Dugtrio added as he and his son surfaced from travelling underground. "What are you talking about?"

"Team Rainbow has been here for, what, four days?" Corphish asked. "In all that time, have you ever heard Laura speak? At _all_?"

"Hm... now that you mention it…" Sunflora pondered, before coming to the conclusion, "Oh my gosh! I haven't!"

"YEAH! She doesn't say the cheers... she doesn't speak at dinner…" Loudred began listing.

"To be fair, she might not have the cheers memorized yet," Chimecho said in defense.

"Yeah, but _dinner_?" Loudred insisted. "You'd think that she'd at LEAST want to voice her opinions THEN."

"I have seen her nod her head in agreement before, so she obviously_ is_ listening," Dugtrio noted. "She just seems to let Paula do all the talking."

"Yup yup! I can vouch for that!" Bidoof agreed, nodding his head. "I was showing them around a few days ago, and Paula was the one asking all the questions."

"So, hey, hey! Why doesn't _Laura_ ever speak?" Corphish demanded.

"Perhaps it's not so much that she _doesn't_ speak, but, rather, that she _can't_ speak?" Chimecho offered.

"Oh my gosh! You think she's mute?" Sunflora asked in surprise.

"I suppose… it _would_ make a certain amount of sense," Dugtrio said slowly.

Everyone pondered that for a moment.

Loudred shook his head. "In ANY case… Where ARE they? We can't start without them!" Loudred said.

"Sorry we're late!" Paula suddenly called as she and Laura entered the room and took their seats. "The Kecleon brothers just delivered the Pecha Berries that Chatot ordered, and he asked us to help him bring them in," she explained.

"FINALLY!" Loudred huffed. "Let's get STARTED!"

* * *

"Meh heh heh… So, did anything interesting happen to anyone today?" Croagunk asked.

"Oh my gosh! Yes!" Sunflora exclaimed. "Today I went on a mission to find a ring that Nidoking had lost so that he could use it to propose to his true love, Nidoqueen!"

"Did she say yes?" Chimecho asked eagerly.

"Uh huh!" Sunflora replied with a huge smile.

"That's great!" Chimecho said. Then she looked to Croagunk. "Speaking of true loves… how are repairs coming on _your_ true love, the Swap Cauldron?" she asked.

"Not too well," he admitted with a frown. "It will take a bit longer."

"That's too bad," Diglett agreed. "No one interesting visited the guild today… what about you two, Paula? Did you do anything cool?"

"We did three jobs in Drenched Bluff today!" Paula exclaimed. She began to tick them off on her fingers. "Um… we defeated an outlaw… we found a missing plusle… and we delivered an item to a piplup."

"What sort of item?" Dugtrio inquired.

"Um… it was a weird one… what was it…?" she turned to Laura. "It was a berry, wasn't it?"

Laura nodded. "An Oren Berry," she reminded her. The apprentices stared in shock.

"_That's _right!" Paula exclaimed, snapping her fingers and remaining oblivious to the stares. "I remember thinking it was weird that anyone would ask for an item that injures you when you eat it." She turned around to face the others. "Don't you think it's… strange…?" she trailed off when she noticed the stares. "Uh… why are you looking at Laura like that?"

"She SPOKE!" Loudred exclaimed, coming out of his shocked stupor.

"Uh… yeah? Why are you so shocked?" Paula asked, still not getting it, while Laura merely looked around in confusion.

"She's never spoken _before_!" Corphish said as an explanation.

"Oh my gosh! We thought you were mute!" Sunflora exclaimed. She looked at the dumbfounded expressions on Team Rainbow's faces and blushed. "Eek! I'm so sorry! How embarrassing!" she exclaimed, covering her face with her leaves.

"Meh heh heh… it's not such a far-fetched conclusion to come to, given the fact you _never speak_," Croagunk stated, giving Laura a pointed look.

Laura blushed and looked down. "I speak _sometimes_," she defended. "Just not _often_." She looked back up, meeting the gazes of her fellow apprentices. "I'm not _mute_," she said. "I'm just… quiet."


	6. Chapter 6: A Question for Another Day

**Chapter 6: A Question for Another Day**

There was silence as the odd trio wandered through the dark world… a silence enhanced by the lack of wind and natural sounds. Their very footsteps seemed to echo in the still air.

Grovyle was very focused and moved swiftly. He was a bit disgruntled by the fact that he had to slow down to accommodate the duo from the past, but he supposed he could live with it. He would glance back occasionally to make sure the two were keeping up.

The pikachu (Paula-that was her name, he remembered) was slightly behind him, to his right. She wore a grim expression as she glanced around. He didn't blame her. For one who grew up in the bright world of the past, it had to be a horrific shock to see the state of things _here_. That aside, she was keeping up okay.

A glance back and to the left revealed the other half of the pair: a treecko (whose name he still didn't know, he realized. He contemplated asking, but thought better of it. It wasn't important now). He was actually surprised at how well she was keeping up. For one thing, she still bore injuries from the fight at Crystal Lake (along with all the _new_ injuries she'd gotten from the paralyzed world), and for another, she was moving in an unnatural way. Treecko were supposed to walk on four legs, but here _she_ was, running on two like it was the most natural thing in the world. He was a bit jealous, since he had _loathed_ being confined to four legs when he had been a treecko many "years" ago, but he could handle it.

What he could _not_ handle, however, was the staring.

Ever since he began travelling with the two, the treecko had stared at him non-stop, with a frown on her face. And she wouldn't tell him why.

Actually… she didn't really say much of _anything._ And that gave Grovyle an idea on how to get her to explain her stares.

"You don't talk much, do you?" he suddenly asked her. In a low voice, of course, to decrease the chances that someone would hear them and attack. He slowed down a bit so that he could catch her reply... assuming she _gave_ a reply. When all she did was turn her frown into a surprised expression, he elaborated, "Aside from answering my question at the stockades, you haven't said one word this whole journey. I mean, it's good to stay as silent as possible when travelling in this world… but you didn't even talk in Treasure Town-back in the _past_."

"Wait a minute!" Paula exclaimed loudly, coming to an abrupt halt and forcing Grovyle and her friend to stop as well. "When were you-?"

"Shush!" Grovyle demanded, a claw to his lips. "Do you want someone to hear you?"

Paula immediately clapped her paws over her mouth. "Sorry," she whispered. "But when were you in Treasure Town?"

"Just after our encounter at Crystal Lake. It's where I heard the rumor about the Time Gears being sealed away," he answered. He scowled as he added, "By the way, I did _not_ appreciate that trick you all pulled."

"Well _we_ didn't appreciate the attempted murder!" Paula shot back.

The treecko frowned in thought. "Were you hiding behind the Kecleon brothers' shop?" she asked.

Grovyle's shock that she had been aware of him back then was so great that his jaw dropped and he could only nod in response.

"I _thought_ I had seen something in those bushes," the treecko muttered. "Guess I was right."

For a few moments Grovyle remained unable to get over his shock at the idea that he had almost been spotted in the town. But he soon got past it so that he could get to the root of his _real_ curiosity. He didn't really care if the treecko talked or not (so long as any hypothetical talking didn't pose a danger to their safety, of course). He was used to having a quiet partner. "In any case," he began, "now that I've actually got you giving responses that are longer than one word… would you mind telling me why you've been staring at me this whole time?"

The treecko frowned. She glanced away for a moment before looking back at him and stating, "You're hurt."

Grovyle snorted. "So are you."

"No, I'm not," she said. "At least… not like you and Paula are."

"What do you mean?" Paula asked, perplexed.

"Our wounds are different," the treecko insisted.

"Of course they are," Grovyle huffed, annoyed at how she was stating the obvious. "We've all been in different battles and taken different attacks."

"I'm talking about our wounds from the stockade," the treecko explained, glaring at him for not taking her seriously.

Paula and Grovyle glanced at each other before Grovyle slowly asked, "What do you mean?"

"You and Paula… the sableye really slashed you up. But they barely put a _scratch _on me."

Grovyle frowned and moved closer to her, examining her wounds and then comparing them with his own. His frown deepened when he repeated the process with Paula and realized that she was right.

"But why would they…?" Grovyle muttered to himself, thoroughly confused.

"And another thing… I'm pretty sure someone changed my bandages while I was unconscious," the treecko continued uneasily.

"What makes you say that?" Grovyle asked, his eyes jumping to her face in surprise.

"Before we got dragged here, I had bandages on my leg," she exclaimed, pointing down at her left leg. "From where… um…" she glanced away, and Grovyle realized that she was talking about an injury he had given her. "Anyways," she continued, looking back at him, "when I woke up in that cell, they were gone. But none of the others were. But they _had_ changed colors."

Paula gasped. "You're right! The ones that the guild put on you were _white_… these are _blue_!"

"Someone soaked them in Oran Berry juice," Grovyle breathed. "But that doesn't make any sense… it's almost like… like they didn't want you to have any injuries…"

"But then… if that were true, why did they tie her up to the stockade?" Paula asked.

"Better question: If they didn't want her hurt, why drag her to this dark world in the first place?" Grovyle asked, looking at the treecko. All she could do was frown; she was just as confused as he was.

Grovyle sighed and shook his head. "Well, whatever the reason, we can't stay here any longer. We have to get moving."

The duo nodded and began following him once more. The treecko had lapsed again into a silence (which was thankfully stare-free) while her partner alternated between glancing at her and the surroundings.

"_It's an important question, that's for sure,"_ Grovyle thought to himself, giving one last glance at the treecko who, for some reason, received mercy and medical attention from her jailers. _"But I can't worry about it at the moment. Right now I have to concentrate on getting us back to the past. I'll have to leave it as a question for another day."_


	7. Chapter 7: Swap Cauldron

**Chapter 7: Swap Cauldron**

Croagunk hummed to himself as he stirred the brew in his Swap Cauldron.

"Hiya, friendly-friend!" came a voice from behind him.

Croagunk looked over his shoulder to see Wigglytuff standing there. "Me heh heh… Hello, Guildmaster," Croagunk greeted, putting down his spoon and turning around fully. "How are you today?"

"I'm doing great!" Wigglytuff replied with a smile. "But I've been meaning to ask you something…"

"Meh heh heh... Oh?"

"Chatot says that the swap cauldron is very important… but how does it work?"

"It's simple, really. Meh heh heh…" Croagunk began. "Say someone was offering up a three-starred item that you wanted. You'd have to put five items-it doesn't matter the star count-into the Cauldron, and then the trade would start."

Wigglytuff frowned. "But what if I didn't want an item with five stars?"

"The fewer the stars, the fewer items you have to offer up in return. Or you could…"

"But what if I didn't want an item with a star on it?"

Croagunk stared at him. "They aren't literal stars," he explained in a flat voice. "That just stands for their rarity."

"Oh… Now I get it!" Wigglytuff exclaimed. "So if I want a rare item, I just have to offer a lot of _less_ rare items?"

"Meh heh heh... _Now_ you've got it," Croagunk nodded. "Then I'd put them in the cauldron, stir it up, and they would be swapped with the rarer item."

"Wow! That _is_ wonderful!" Wigglytuff said. "I want to try!"

"Meh heh heh… All right," Croagunk shrugged, turning back to stir his cauldron. "Bring me some items, and I'll see what I can do."

"Okay!" Wigglytuff agreed, rushing off to his room.

The second he left, Chatot flew over. "Excuse me, Croagunk? The Guildmaster and I have been thinking of putting Chimecho in charge of a service that would allow teams to add more members. Since you already run a successful business here, I was wondering if you could talk with her… give her some advice. She's in the upper level."

"Meh heh heh… You want me to talk with Chimecho…? Sure," Croagunk replied, not even thinking twice about it, before putting down his spoon and heading to the upper level, completely forgetting about Wigglytuff's desire for a swap. Chatot followed him up.

* * *

"Okay! I brought some items!" Wigglytuff exclaimed happily, as he rushed over to the Swap Shop… only to find it empty.

"Huh? Friendly-friend Croagunk's not here?" he questioned, looking around. "Hm… well, he said that all you have to do is put in the items and stir… I bet I can do it myself!"

Wigglytuff skipped over to the Swap Cauldron. "I want a Perfect Apple, so I should get one if I offer these less rare, ordinary Apples!" he reasoned, dumping a bag full of them into the cauldron.

He began to stir it… but nothing happened aside from the Apples dissolving into a gooey mess. "Hm… maybe I need a different item!" he exclaimed, rushing off.

He didn't notice the spoon begin to dissolve…

* * *

Meanwhile, Croagunk, Chatot, and Chimecho were still talking in the upper level.

"… and keeping an organized list of every transaction-or added member, in your case-is key," Croagunk finished explaining.

"That makes sense," Chimecho nodded. "Do you enjoy running your own business?" she asked.

"Meh heh heh… Definitely," he replied, giving her one of his rare smiles. "Whenever I do a swap… it makes me happy. If anything were to happen to my Swap Cauldron, I'd-"

"_KA-BOOM!"_ the sound of an explosion came from the lower level. The shockwaves knocked Croagunk and Chatot over.

"Squawk! What in the world…?!" Chatot asked as he dashed over to the ladder.

Once he made his way down, he was met with quite a sight: A strange, stinking, purple mist filled the air, causing him to cough. Loudred was flat on his back, dazed from… whatever it was that had happened, and he could hear Diglett frantically calling up for an explanation. He looked around for the source of the explosion… and his gaze landed on the Swap Cauldron. Or, rather, on the _remains_ of the Swap Cauldron.

The cauldron was a wreck. An acidic, black liquid had bored holes into the bottom and was oozing onto the ground. Chunks of the cauldron's side had been completely blown off, and it had tipped over.

"Oog…" Wigglytuff groaned, sitting up from where he had been blasted across the room.

"Squawk! Guildmaster! What happened?!" Chatot frantically demanded.

"I wanted a Perfect Apple… so I tried swapping some items for it… but it didn't work," Wigglytuff explained, sniffling from sadness.

"A Perfect Apple?" Chatot asked in confusion. "Squawk! Guildmaster, you can't use the Swap Cauldron to swap for a Perfect Apple!"

"B-but Croagunk said that all you had to do was put in an item, and then-"

Chatot cut him off, "Yes, an _exclusive_ item! What did you put in it?!"

"Apples... and Blast Seeds…" Wigglytuff admitted.

"Squawk! _Blast Seeds?!_"

"_AUGH!_"

A shriek resounded from the bottom of the ladder. Chimecho was hovering, her hands over her mouth in shock, looking at the mess in the Swap Shop. Croagunk, the source of the shriek, had fallen to his knees in horror. "WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO MY BEAUTIFUL SWAP CAULDRON?!"


	8. Chapter 8: Questions

**Chapter 8: Questions**

"Hey, hey! So… I have a question, Laura," Corphish began.

It was dinnertime at the guild, and the atmosphere was brighter than it had been in weeks. Team Rainbow had finally returned after being dragged into the dimensional hole by the not-so-great-after-all Dusknoir! Paula's recount of their adventures and the knowledge of what was _really_ causing time to go out of whack dampened the cheer a bit, but, overall, everyone was in a joyful mood. However, there was one part of the tale that bothered Corphish…

Laura looked up at him from her plate of Plain Seeds and cocked her head, giving him silent permission to ask.

"So Paula told us all about your time in the paralyzed future, and about you being Grovyle's partner, but… hey, hey! I don't get why _you _didn't tell us when you first joined the guild," Corphish explained.

"…That's a GOOD point," Loudred realized. "Why DIDN"T you tell us?"

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Sunflora exclaimed. "We could have helped you!"

Laura blushed and looked down at her plate.

"The thing is... she couldn't actually _remember_ any of that," Paula explained, shifting around uncomfortably with the realization that, ironically, she and Laura had forgotten to mention that fact to the guild.

"HUH?" Everyone asked.

"She has amnesia."

"_HUH?!"_

"The first thing I can remember is waking up on the beach and meeting Paula," Laura quietly admitted, refusing to look up.

"Golly!" Bidoof exclaimed. "So you couldn't remember _anything_ else?"

"Well, she _could_ remember two things," Paula said.

"Oh? What two things?" Dugtrio asked.

"The first was her name, and the second was that she used to be human," Paula explained.

"I see… so you used to be human," Chatot repeated, nodding his head. Then he blinked as that statement set in. "Wait, what?! Squawk! You used to be_ human?!_" Chatot exclaimed with incredulity. Laura blushed again and nodded.

"But… how does something like that happen?" Diglett asked.

"Grovyle said something about an accident when they were travelling back through time," Paula offered, frowning.

"What kind of accident could have caused THAT?" Loudred asked. Laura just shrugged.

"Meh heh heh… I suppose this _does_ explain a few things about you," Croagunk said. Laura cocked her head in confusion, so Croagunk elaborated, "Well, for one thing... the way you walk. Meh heh heh… It's unnatural for a treecko, but if you're _supposed_ to be something else…"

"Ah. Muscle-memory," Dugtrio nodded. Then he added, "That would probably explain the silence as well. Paula _did_ say that it was safer to stay quiet when you were travelling around in the dark future."

"…That's probably part of it," Laura quietly agreed. Then she glanced away, looking uneasy. "But…"

"But…?" Everyone prompted.

Laura shuffled her feet before looking back at the assembled group and reluctantly replying, "I think there's more to it than that. Grovyle… once he realized who I was, he explained a bit about my past. But for a lot of the questions I asked… it seemed like he didn't want to answer. And some he just outright _refused_ to answer…"

"Golly! That _is_ strange!" Bidoof agreed.

"Well… he was probably just worried about re-collecting the Time Gears," Chimecho said, trying to find an explanation. "I bet that once Temporal Tower gets fixed, he'll tell you anything you want to know."

Laura sighed. "I hope so. I have a _lot_ of questions."


	9. Chapter 9: The Dimensional Scream Abilit

**Chapter 9: The Dimensional Scream Ability**

"Golly! It's just so amazing!" Bidoof exclaimed. "Pokémon can come from the future? Who knew?"

Similar exclamations were being heard all throughout the town square. The meeting had already ended, but the citizens of Treasure Town still needed time to absorb the news that the great Dusknoir was from the future and had come to the past to stop the thief, Grovyle, from causing the planet's paralysis.

"YEAH!" Loudred agreed. "And the plan is PERFECT! All we have to do is spread a rumor, and then—BAM! Grovyle gets caught!"

"Oh my gosh! _That_ part should be easy for you, Loudred! With your ridiculously loud voice, you won't even have to leave the guild for Grovyle to hear it!" Sunflora teased.

"HEY!" Loudred exclaimed indignantly. "It's not THAT loud!"

Corphish shook his head; Loudred was totally in denial. "Still… hey, hey! It's too bad that we can't get in on the action…" he said. Then he glanced to his right. "Although… I suppose that's for the best in Team Rainbow's case."

Everyone turned to look at the team. They had just awoken mere hours before after being unconscious for four days, and they were still in pretty bad shape. Paula still had bandages around her ribs and on her cheek and Laura… Laura was a wreck.

"Heh heh… yeah, I guess we're still kinda beat up…" Paula said, blushing and chuckling nervously.

Laura didn't say anything, but this time it wasn't because of her naturally quiet demeanor. No, this time it was because she was beginning to feel very lightheaded… and spots were starting to crowd her vision…

"Laura?" Bidoof worriedly asked when he noticed her start to wobble unsteadily on her feet. Her face became ashen and she began to tip over…

Sunflora shrieked, "Eek! Laura!"

* * *

"Grovyle is very cunning," Dusknoir told the spirit trio. "He usually resorts to trickery, such as effect-causing items, but he's also strong when it comes to fighting."

"I understand," Uxie said, nodding. "But we have some tricks up _our_ sleeves as well…"

"Oh?" Dusknoir asked, his curiosity peaked. "Do tell."

"Well, for one thing, I'm good at illusions. For instance: my Groudon illusion. It's so realistic that pokémon _truly_ believe they are fighting Groudon, so they still take damage, even though it isn't _actually_ real." Uxie explained. "Even if you _know_ it's an illusion, it still tricks your senses enough that your body falls for it, even if your mind doesn't.

"I see… so if you were to create an illusion of, say, a sandstorm…?" Dusknoir prompted.

Uxie nodded. "He would be damaged by it, or quickly run out of items while trying to get rid of it."

"Excellent!" Dusknoir commended.

"I could manipulate his emotions, to make him feel despair and hopelessness," Mesprit offered. "It might make him easier to fight."

Dusknoir shook his head. "No, that won't work. He's trained himself too well; he'll just ignore those feelings and carry on. He's very strong-willed."

"Perhaps I could help, then," Azelf piped up. "My powers allow me to feel out someone's strength of will, so that I can manipulate it to either increase it or dampen it."

"Yes… that could work very nicely…" Dusknoir mused.

"Although…" Azelf began with a frown. Dusknoir looked back to him.

"Although what?"

Azelf shook his head. "If his strength of will is anywhere near Laura's level… I might have a bit of trouble."

"Oh? What's so special about Laura's willpower?" Mesprit asked.

"It was abnormally high," Azelf explained. "She was very adamant about coming to the meeting, even though the other members of the guild tried to persuade her and Paula to stay home. I agreed with the guild, so _I_ tried to use my powers to 'persuade' her… but nothing much happened."

"That's very strange," Uxie agreed with a frown. "I don't think _that's_ happened since… well, _you_ know."

The other members of the trio nodded almost wistfully while Dusknoir frowned at something in Azelf's statement.

"Excuse me, Azelf?" he interrupted. "Why would the guild try to dissuade Team Rainbow from coming to this important meeting?"

"Didn't you notice their bandages?" Azelf asked in surprise.

Dusknoir slowly nodded his head. "I did see them, but I am not aware of the extent of their injuries," he admitted.

Azelf sighed. "Well, today is the first time they've been conscious since the fight at Crystal Lake. Paula had some bruising and gashes—one that nearly damaged her electrical pouch—but Laura… she almost _died_."

Dusknoir was aghast.

"And she _still_ insisted on coming here?" Mesprit asked incredulously.

Azelf shrugged. "Like I said, her willpower is incredible." Then he paused for a moment and frowned. "Although… at the moment, it seems like it's wavering a bit…"

Dusknoir snapped to attention. "What?"

"Yeah… it almost feels as if she's about to—"

Azelf was cut off by Sunflora's shriek of, "Eek! Laura!"

"F-faint…" Azelf finished weakly while Dusknoir sped off in the direction of the scream.

* * *

"What in the world happened?!" Dusknoir demanded once he had reached the area of the square where the guild was gathered. They were clustered around Laura, who was sitting on the ground, a dazed expression on her pale face, being supported by Bidoof because one of her arms was stuck in a sling and the other was too limp to support her weight.

The guild members jumped in surprise at his tone. "D-Dusknoir, sir!" Chatot stammered. "Laura… ah… it appears that the excitement of the day was a bit too much for her…"

"I'll say! She nearly _fainted_!" Bidoof exclaimed.

Dusknoir put his hand to his face and sighed. "You should not be up and about yet, Laura. You need to recover more."

"We TRIED to tell her that before the meeting, but did she listen? Nooo..." Loudred huffed, trying to hide his worry.

"…S-sorry…" Laura mumbled, finally catching up with the conversation.

Dusknoir sighed again and bent over to pick her up. Everyone displayed expressions of shock.

"Come. Let's get you to bed," he told her, beginning to swiftly float off towards the guild. The other members jumped and quickly scurried to catch up to him.

"Ah! Dusknoir, sir, you don't have to do that!" Chatot exclaimed. "One of the other apprentices can—!"

Dusknoir cut him off. "It's no trouble," he assured.

Laura opened her mouth to say something, but then her expression became dazed again and her eyes acquired a far-off look. They stayed like that a few moments before she blinked and began to stare at Dusknoir in wonder...

* * *

Laura was placed in her room, where she promptly fell asleep. Later that night, just before dinner, Paula woke her up to give her some food and medicine.

"I was really worried about you today, Laura," she told her in a serious tone.

"…Sorry," Laura said quietly, looking down.

Paula sighed, "It's okay. Just... please don't do anything like that again. I don't want to lose you!" She got up to leave for dinner (since she didn't have as many injuries and wasn't confined to her bed) "I'll try to be quiet when I get back—I want you to get a good night's rest. And don't worry about Grovyle—the great Dusknoir is _sure_ to catch him!"

"I know," Laura replied happily. "I had a Dimensional Scream while he was carrying me."

"Really?" Paula asked, full of curiosity. "What was it about?"

"It was dark, so I couldn't really see much, but I heard him tell someone, 'I finally succeeded… in the capture, yes.' Then I saw a pair of glowing, red eyes…"

"That's great!" Paula exclaimed. "I'm not so sure what the deal was about the eyes… but at least we know that he'll catch Grovyle," she said. Then she thought of something and frowned. "Well… assuming that was a vision from the future. I really hope it was…"

Laura shrugged and wrinkled her nose at the medicine in her hands. She gagged a bit at the taste as she swallowed it, and then she replied to Paula. "I hope so too," she agreed. "Not knowing really bugs me." Then she shrugged. "But I guess that's just one of the drawbacks of the Dimensional Scream ability."


	10. Chapter 10: Amnesia

**Chapter 10: Amnesia**

Grovyle peeked through the bushes behind Kangaskhan Storage. He looked both ways before glancing back towards Laura and motioning that the coast was clear. The duo quickly dashed towards their destination: Sharpedo Bluff.

Once they had arrived, he cautiously looked down into to their little hideaway before entering, with Laura following close behind. He peered out after her, making sure that no one had seen them. Once he was sure that the coast was clear he relaxed, flopping down on the ground with a sigh and pulling out his treasure bag.

"One down, four to go," he muttered, pulling out the Time Gear that he had reclaimed from Treeshroud Forest. He glanced over towards Laura. She was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, gazing at the Time Gear with wide, awed eyes. Grovyle chuckled, and she jerked in surprise. She noticed his amused look and blushed, looking away.

"You always _were_ fascinated by the Time Gears," he said, shaking his head in amusement. Laura immediately perked up at this tidbit of her forgotten past and gave him her full attention.

Grovyle didn't seem to notice. He was too lost in his memories as he continued, "I understand why, given your upbringing… well, what little upbringing you had, anyways… but still, it was bordering on _obsession_. And you were so excited that you would get to see Temporal Tower in its prime…"

"In its prime?" Laura asked, cocking her head.

"Yeah, opposed to all the times you saw it in the paralyzed future when you—" Grovyle abruptly cut himself off, glancing towards Laura with a strange look on his face. Her expression turned to one of confusion, and he looked away. He frowned and seemed to debate something within his mind. He sighed and glanced back at her apologetically before saying, "Anyways… hopefully we'll get to see it soon."

Laura frowned in confusion. Why was he changing the subject? But she decided to ignore it and asked, "How long do you think it will take to re-gather the gears?"

"It shouldn't take too long," Grovyle answered, putting away the one from the forest. "I know all the quickest and safest routes now, so as long as we don't run into any trouble, like when you and Paula tried to stop me—" he stopped himself again, cringing, and looked away in shame. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Laura frowned in confusion. Grovyle turned back towards her, guilt clearly displayed on his features, as his eyes travelled over her body, looking at all the bandaging. He gulped before timidly asking, "How… how badly did I hurt you?"

Laura looked away, finally understanding why Grovyle was so upset.

"Please, Laura," he begged. "I… I have to know."

Laura sighed before mumbling, "According to Chatot… I nearly died."

Govyle closed his eyes, as if in pain.

"It's… it's okay, though!" Laura assured. "I—!"

"It is _not_ okay!" Grovyle growled. Laura jumped at his tone. "I should have… I don't know… I should have done _something_!" Grovyle berated himself. "I should've…." He trailed off, covering his face with his claws. "At least now I know why Dusknoir was so enraged when he captured me at Crystal Lake," he sighed.

Laura looked at him in shock. "Why would _Dusknoir_ care that you hurt me?" she asked.

Grovyle cringed, mentally slapping himself for not watching what he was saying. He tried to think of a plausible explanation. "Uh… because… uh…" he glanced at her bandages again and blurted out, "Hey, we should probably change those! It's, uh… it's been a while…"

Laura glared at him for the obvious subject change, but he pretended to ignore it.

* * *

Grovyle undid the bandages and inspected Laura's wounds. They were mostly healed, and only a gash on her upper arm remained in need of bandaging. Even then, the gash was very small and would probably heal within a day. Laura watched curiously as Grovyle took some Oran Berries and squeezed their juice onto some fresh bandages before winding them around her arm.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked. "Couldn't I have just _eaten_ the berries?"

"Force of habit," Grovyle sheepishly admitted. "Raw berries weren't very effective when you ate them as a human, so we had to do things like this."

Laura nodded her head, filing away the information. "Grovyle… what was I like as a human?"

Grovyle blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah… well, your skin was very pale… and your eyes…" he trailed off, contemplating how best to describe them. "Well, they were very… unique," he finally decided. "Let's see… you had brown hair. It was short out of necessity… but you always hated it. You would have preferred it long." Laura cocked her head, encouraging him to explain why. Grovyle obliged. "You said that short hair always reminded you of one of your… guardians."

"My 'guardians'? Not my parents?"

Grovyle frowned. "You never mentioned your parents…to tell the truth, you rarely mentioned your guardians either, but from what you _did _say about them…" Grovyle sighed. "Well, it didn't seem like you had a very good relationship. Actually, I'm surprised that you remembered as much about them as you did. You weren't very old when we met."

"How did we meet?" Laura asked.

Grovyle chuckled. "You fell out a tree and landed on top of me."

"R-really?" Laura asked. He nodded, and then began to laugh when she blushed.

"Yes, it was… an interesting experience," Grovyle said, a grin on his face. But he quickly sobered up when he got another look at the bandage on her arm. "You were injured then, too," he said quietly, looking away.

Laura sighed and crossed her arms. "Grovyle, I don't blame you. If anything, it's _my_ fault for getting amnesia and forgetting our mission," she stated. Grovyle looked back at her with a frown, so she continued, "I mean, it's not like you _expected_ me to have become a treecko and forgotten everything."

"I should've been on the lookout, though," Grovyle mumbled obstinately, looking at the ground. "It's not the first time that you've lost—" Grovyle froze, horrified at what he just said. He glanced over at Laura and saw her shocked expression.

Laura slowly uncrossed her harms and asked, "…What do you mean? Has… has something like this happened before?"

Grovyle gulped. "N-no," he stuttered unconvincingly. "I just, uh… it was just a slip of the tongue. What I meant to say was that I should have figured that something as catastrophic as this had happened when I didn't hear any word from you."

Laura wasn't convinced, and Grovyle knew it. She glared at him, demanding an explanation. He sighed, "When we were travelling together, there were certain times when…" he trailed off. Then he sighed again and looked her straight in the eye. "Laura… I know this is frustrating. But this topic… we don't have time to talk about it now. When it happened... I did what I thought was best, okay? Let's just leave it at that."

Laura frowned. She was still unhappy with the lack of information, but she knew that Grovyle wouldn't tell her anything else. Not at the moment, anyways. He was right about time being limited. Still, she couldn't help but sigh and flop down onto her back, muttering, "I _hate_ amnesia…"


	11. Chapter 11: Boredom

**Chapter 11: Boredom**

"Ugh… This is so _boring_…" Un the sableye complained to his sableye companions, Cinq and Trois. The three were busy gathering food to bring back to camp.

"I _know_! All we've done is collect food!" Trois commiserated.

"Wheh heh heh! At least this world _sounds_ nice," Cinq interjected, trying to lighten the mood. "The wind rustling through the trees… we don't have that back home."

"Fair enough," Un admitted. "But, wheh heh heh! I still wish we could go somewhere else, too. At this rate, all we'll have seen of a bright world is an island and a forest."

"Wheh heh heh? When did you see an island?" Trois asked, a bit jealous.

Cinq and Un looked at each other. "That's right... I keep forgetting how recently you and your brother joined us," Un mumbled.

Trois nodded. "Yes. This is the first mission that Master Dusknoir has ever taken me along for. Wheh heh heh… "

Cinq nodded. "Well, it was many missions ago. Master Dusknoir took us with him to that island… it was very pretty. The waves crashed on the sand and the smell of salt carried on the breeze…"

Trois sighed. "I wish I could have been there…"

"No you don't!" Un said, shaking his head emphatically. "Master Dusknoir... I'd _never_ seen him that angry before. Or since…" he gulped. "It was scary…"

Trois shivered. He'd seen Dusknoir get mad before, and it wasn't pretty. For Un and Cinq to be so petrified even now… he didn't even want to imagine what they'd seen in the moment.

"Wheh heh heh! Look!" Cinq called out. "We're back at camp!"

* * *

Un and Trois yawned at the monotony. The second they and Cinq had made it back to camp the other sableye swarmed, eager to finally have something to relieve their boredom. Dos and Seis had taken the food and began to prepare dinner while Cinq and Cuatro had begun to tidy up the campsite. That left Un and Trois on bandage duty.

It was boring work. They had to squeeze Oran Berry juice into a bucket and then use it to soak bandages. Then they had to take the berry skins and mash them into a paste that Dusknoir would later add other ingredients to. Since the bandages were for humans, they were very long. It made the process take _forever_.

"Wheh heh heh… Why do we have to prepare so _many_?" Trois moaned in complaint.

"Humans injure easily," Un reminded him, although he wasn't any happier at being stuck with the chore. "Besides, we don't know what condition Miss Laura will be in once Master Dusknoir brings her back," he pointed out.

"Wheh heh heh... How much longer do you think it will take?" Trois asked with a sigh.

Un shrugged. "Master Dialga sent us back to the place where Grovyle should have landed, but he can move pretty fast. Wheh heh heh… even with Miss Laura's human speed slowing them down, they would have been long gone…"

"But humans are a rarity, even in the past! How hard could it be to find _one_, wheh heh heh?" Trois complained.

"It _wouldn't_ be hard to find one," a voice agreed from a little ways away. The two sableye stiffened. They recognized the voice. They instantly spun in its direction in time to see Dusknoir emerge from the shadows. "That is," Dusknoir continued, "if they were, indeed, _still_ human."

"Wheh heh heh?" The sableye cocked their heads in question.

"Gather around, sableye!" Dusknoir ordered. I have some important news…"

* * *

The sableye quickly gathered around, eager to hear what Dusknoir had to say. He seemed happy, and that was usually a good sign.

"Everyone! Our mission is nearly complete! Laura… I've found her," Dusknoir said.

The sableye jolted in surprise before looking around in confusion.

"Then, um… wheh heh heh... where is she?" Dos was brave enough to ask.

"Currently she is living in the Wigglytuff Guild," Dusknoir explained.

The sableye were still confused. Dusknoir noticed, so he elaborated, "As for why I left her there… I need to monitor the situation a bit more. She'll be safe there. The security around the guild is adequate, and that new body of hers should be much stronger than her human one…"

"Wheh heh heh? New body?" Seis asked.

Dusknoir nodded. "For some reason, she has transformed into a treecko."

"Wheh heh heh?!" the sableye exclaimed, looking at each other in shock.

"In any case, I need her to stay there for another reason as well," Dusknoir began, his minions' attention snapping back to him. "The guild—and the town, for that matter—would become suspicious if I just _took_ her, and I'll likely need their help to catch Grovyle."

"Wheh heh heh? They aren't travelling together?" Cuatro asked in surprise.

"No," Dusknoir said, a smirk on his face. "And the best part is that Laura's transformation also gave her a case of amnesia… she trusts _me_ completely, and she thinks _Grovyle_ is the enemy!"

The sableye were shocked into silence.

Dusknoir looked around at the camp. "Now, I need to return to the guild. I told Wigglytuff that I was just going out to do some 'research' on possible locations of the Time Gears. He will expect me back soon to confer and decide where to send out the apprentices. While I'm gone, pack up camp," he ordered. "We will be relocating nearer to Treasure Town."

"Wheh heh heh! Yes Master Dusknoir!" the sableye replied, immediately setting off to do their tasks.

Once Dusknoir had left, Un and Trois returned to the spot where they had prepared bandages and began to pack up.

"Wheh heh heh… Finally, we're going somewhere else!" Trois exclaimed. "Hopefully this will mean an end to the boredom…"


	12. Chapter 12: Scary Stories

**Chapter 12: Scary Stories**

"… and so you won't have to pick Perfect Apples again tomorrow. But next time, _tell_ us before you just abandon your post like that. Understood?" Chatot asked.

"YEAH! I COMPLETELY understand!" Loudred answered with enthusiasm.

"Right, then! That will be all," Chatot said with a smile, indicating that Loudred was dismissed.

Loudred immediately headed for the crew rooms, a smirk on his face. "WOW! That was some really GREAT luck!"

"Oh! Loudred! You're back!" he heard a voice call. He turned and was surprised to see Sunflora peeking her head out of her room.

"Sunflora! Er… how's it going?" he asked.

Sunflora shuffled her feet and hesitantly moved towards him. "I… uh… I just wanted to thank you for helping me earlier. I never would've caught the 'Invincible Haunter' trio without you…"

"OH!" Loudred exclaimed, suddenly feeling nervous himself. "It, uh… it was nothing."

"B-but you got in trouble for it! And I was so mean to you…" Sunflora ended in a mumble.

"Really, Sunflora, it's fine. That's what… that's what friends are for."

Sunflora eyes began to well up with happy tears. "Loudred… do you think that maybe we could go exploring together again sometime?" she asked.

"Of COURSE!" Loudred exclaimed. "I would be GLAD to—"

"_EEEEK!_" a scream from the room across the hall—his room—cut him off.

"What in the WORLD—?" Loudred exclaimed, jumping at the noise.

"Oh… everyone else is in there telling scary stories," Sunflora explained.

"Why didn't you tell me EARLIER? I LOVE horror stories!" Loudred exclaimed, grabbing one of her leaves and practically dragging her across the hall.

* * *

When Loudred and Sunflora entered the room, they saw Corphish gesturing wildly with his claws. He was in the middle of telling some story about a cursed amulet. Most of the apprentices seemed terrified. Paula and Bidoof were clutching each other for dear life, Diglett was hiding behind his father, and Chimecho was hiding her face behind her hands. Only Laura and Croagunk were unaffected. Croagunk, frankly, just seemed bored, but Laura had her head cocked with interest. She saw Loudred and Sunflora at the door and scooted over to make room.

"…and they never saw her again. But it's been said that on the new moon, if you go to the house on the hill where she used to live, you can still hear her screams…" Corphish finished. "So… hey, hey! How did you like it?" he asked, looking around. Laura shrugged. Corphish seemed to deflate. "So… _that_ one didn't scare you, either?"

Laura shook her head apologetically.

"Meh heh heh… of _course_ it didn't scare her," Croagunk said, yawning. "Your story wasn't the least bit terrifying."

Corphish was indignant. "Oh yeah? Then, hey, hey! How do you explain everyone _else's_ reactions?"

Croagunk shrugged.

Corphish merely sighed before he noticed that Loudred and Sunflora had entered the room. "Hey, hey! Do either of you want to give it a try? Maybe one of you two can crack her!"

"Do WHAT now?" Loudred asked in confusion.

"Laura hasn't shown a hint of fear all night, not even during Croagunk's story," Chimecho explained. That surprised the two latecomers; Croagunk was famous for his bone-chilling tales. Chimecho continued, "So now we're trying to see if there's _any_ story that can scare her."

"Hm…" Loudred hummed, thinking. "Oh! I've got one! Okay, so a long time ago there was this krabby…"

Diglett rolled his eyes. "Is this the one about the disembodied krabby claw that grabs you and squeezes until you die?" he asked. "Because that isn't scary. At all."

Loudred blushed, and Diglett took that as confirmation.

"W-well… maybe _Laura_ should tell one!" Loudred exclaimed, trying to draw the attention elsewhere. "I mean… since she isn't scared by YOUR stories, then she must have a pretty good one herself!"

Everyone rolled their eyes at his tactic. There was no way in a million years that shy, quiet Laura would _ever_—

"Sure," Laura agreed, startling everyone.

"NO WAY! I was just KIDDING about that!" Loudred blurted out in shock.

Laura shrunk back and glanced down, "Oh… w-well I don't _have_ to… I mean… if you don't want me to…"

"Oh my gosh! He didn't mean it like _that_!" Sunflora assured. "It's just… we're surprised that you would actually agree to tell one, given your… um… tendency to gravitate towards silence."

"Hey, hey! Yeah! If you've got a story, I'd love to hear it!" Corphish assured.

Laura straightened up and looked around. "All right, then," she said. She cleared her throat, and began the tale…

* * *

_Once upon a time, there was a husband and wife. They were deeply in love, but still very unhappy, for they did not have children. The wife prayed every day for a miracle, and was ecstatic when her wish was granted and she gave birth to triplets. One—_

* * *

"'Gave birth?'" Diglett asked in confusion that was mirrored by everyone present. He turned to his father. "Dad? What does that mean, to 'give birth'?"

"The woman was human," Laura explained, annoyed at the interruption.

The apprentices still didn't get it. Laura sighed, "Okay… she 'laid an egg which hatched into triplets'. Does that make more sense?"

Everyone nodded in understanding. Laura continued…

* * *

_One, the oldest was a male. But the other two were identical twin sisters. Their parents were overjoyed, as the children seemed perfect in every way._

_But little did they know what lurked beneath the surface…_

_At first, everything seemed normal. But once the trio turned five, things changed. One day an angry parent pounded on their door, claiming that one of the girls had thrown a rock at her child. The older sister blamed the younger, claiming she had witnessed the event. The younger sister was shocked into silence. Both of them had stayed home that day, so why would her sister lie about it?_

_The girl's parents interpreted the silence as an admission of truth and punished her for the crime she did not commit._

_Strange occurrences like that began to happen more often. They started out small—a broken window here, a petty theft there… but as the years passed, they gradually increased in magnitude. Soon bones were being broken, houses burned to the ground. Each time the trio would be far away from the event, but each time the older girl would blame her younger sister, who would then be punished._

_The younger girl was heartbroken. Why would her twin lie? But she was also confused. Each time something horrendous happened, there were witnesses around who could give her an alibi. But when her sister laid the blame, they would forget all about it and believe the lie._

_Something strange was going on. And she wanted to know what._

_One day the girl's punishment was to clean up the entire city square. It was late at night when she finished and returned to her home. Just as she was about to open the front door, she saw a shadow slip out from behind the house. Curious, she followed it._

_The shadow made its way to the cliff on the other side of town—the one that overlooked the sea. The girl watched as the figure started a fire… and was shocked to see that it was none other than her twin sister! She was about to call out to her; to ask what she was doing out so late… but then her sister did something horrifying._

_Her sister reached her arms behind her and tore the skin off her back, revealing a creature with claws and talons of bloody red, and a body as black as night. It was surrounded with the smell of gore and rotting corpses, and it cackled with evil laughter. It began to shriek out strange incantations, and do evil spells with its dark powers… spells for spreading chaos and misery._

_The girl took a terrified step back, only to feel a hand touch her shoulder. She shrieked, not noticing until too late that he hand belonged to her brother, who had left the house out of concern when he noticed his sister's beds were empty. _

_The demon that had pretended to be their sister whipped around and grabbed the two, dragging them out of hiding. She studied them curiously as they trembled in fear. Then she gave an evil smirk._

"_Well, now that you've found me out, there's only one thing I can do…" she stated. She poured dark energy into their forms, laughing maliciously as they screamed in pain and terror._

_She dangled the two off the edge of the cliff, seeming to consider something. "If I just throw you off now, that will be the end of it," she mused. "But I want you to _suffer_…hm… what to do…? Oh! I know!"_

_With one last burst of energy, she laid a curse on the girl. She would be forced into a cycle of reincarnation, living out horrible lives, full of pain and agony, for the rest of eternity. Then she threw the girl off the cliff, and she died on impact with the water below._

_The demon turned to the boy, intending to inflict on him the same curse, but he cried out, "Please! Spare me! I'll do anything you want!"_

_The demon considered. "All right. Fetch me some hair of a ninetales' tail, and I'll let you live," she ordered, dropping the boy to the ground. _

_The boy hurriedly scrambled away in search of a ninetales, not knowing that touching its tail would still result in him being cursed._

_The demon laughed in glee at all the misery she'd caused and vanished into the air._

_Nearly a thousand years have passed since then. The girl has had many incarnations, each one filled with horror and sadness. The boy is luckier; his curse is coming to a close._

_And the demon… she lies in wait, looking for another victim…_

* * *

"Was that good?" Laura asked once her tale was through.

Everyone had huddled at the far end of the room, clutching at each other for security.

"L-Laura… th-that was the most terrifying thing I've ever heard…" Paula stammered.

"M-meh h-heh heh… Even _I_ was scared…" a trembling Croagunk admitted.

"H-hey, hey! Who in the world told you that story in the first place?" Corphish demanded.

Laura frowned. "No one _told_ me… I made it up," she said. Then she frowned deeper and mentally added, _"At least… I don't _think_ anyone told me that story… then again, I _do _have amnesia, so you never know."_

"Well, if you MADE UP something like that, then NO WONDER no one could scare you!" Loudred exclaimed.

"I thought it was very good!" a voice said from the doorway.

"Well, YEAH, it was good," Loudred agreed, causing Laura to blush and give a small smile. "But…" he trailed off as he looked towards the voice. He jumped in surprise. "G-Guildmaster Wigglytuff! How… how long have YOU been here?"

"Um… since the beginning of Laura's story," he admitted.

"Oh my gosh! Why did you come down here?" Sunflora asked.

Wigglytuff smiled. "Silly Sunflora," he began, his tone of voice implying that the answer should be obvious. "I came to listen to the scary stories!"


	13. Chapter 13: Captured

**Chapter 13: Captured**

Grovyle was exhausted. This was his second trek through Crystal Crossing, and, for some reason, the dungeon had been overcome with strange weather. Hail storms, sand storms, heat waves… it was never-ending. What was worse was the fact that his Sunny and Rainy Orbs were useless. Every time he would use one, the weather would just revert back to what it had been before. It took him three tries to realize that he would just have to grin and bear it.

Grovyle wasn't stupid. He knew that the strange weather was no natural phenomenon. He knew that it was likely just one of Uxie's illusions. Still… even though he mentally knew it wasn't real, his body still wouldn't believe it. That was bad, because he was almost out of healing items.

Grovyle slowed down once he approached the area of the lake. He was puzzled when he saw that the crystal barrier was no longer in place… yet the Time Gear was nowhere to be found.

"_That shouldn't be possible,"_ he thought with a frown. _"The Time Gear is gone, yet… time is still flowing…"_

Grovyle looked around. He couldn't see anyone… so he cautiously took a step forward.

Suddenly, his instincts cried out to him, warning him that something was very wrong, and he jumped to the side. It was good that he did, because had he stayed in that spot a moment longer, the cage that was falling from the ceiling would have landed on top of him and trapped him.

"I see… so this was all a trap, was it?" he called out to thin air. "You were lying about sealing away the Time Gears…"

"…So you weren't fooled? That's too bad…" a voice that sounded like Uxie's said. Suddenly Grovyle's surroundings began to shimmer. Uxie's façade melted away and was replaced with the sight that Grovyle had expected to see: the Spirit Trio floating in front of the crystal barrier that still encased the Time Gear of Crystal Lake.

"Let's just cut to the chase," Grovyle said. "You know what I want. Are you really going to try to stop me? Considering what happened to you the _last_ time you tried?"

"You mean when _I_ stopped _you_?" a voice said from behind him. Grovyle jumped and spun around to face the expected sight of Dusknoir.

Grovyle sighed. "Are you really going to try to stop me, Dusknoir? You of all pokémon should know why I'm doing this."

"And you of all pokémon should understand why I can't let you," Dusknoir retorted.

"It seems that we'll have to settle this the old-fashioned way," Grovyle said, getting into a fighting stance.

"I suppose," Dusknoir agreed. "But first… why don't we take a trip down memory lane?"

Grovyle was surprised. "What? _Here_? In front of _them_?"

Dusknoir shrugged. "Why not? After all, Azelf and his home are integral to the memory I wish to discuss."

Grovyle narrowed his eyes in suspicion. That suspicion deepened when Dusknoir gave a meaningful glance to the Spirit Trio.

"Do you know where you're standing now?" Dusknoir asked. "That's the spot where Azelf fell… after _you_ made him collapse."

Grovyle jerked in surprise at the powerful wave of guilt that he felt and he whipped his head around to glare at Mesprit.

"I know what you're trying to do," he said. "But it won't work!"

"Oh? So you're really that cold-blooded that you don't feel bad for hurting people?" Dusknoir asked, feigning surprise.

"That's not what I mean, Dusknoir, and you know it!"

Dusknoir ignored him and continued to expound upon his previous thought, "Or perhaps Azelf's injuries weren't enough to stir your regret… what about Team Rainbow?"

Grovyle winced at the fresh wave of remorse.

Dusknoir smiled wickedly. "Ah. So you _do_ have some feelings of regret? Tell me; which injury do you feel the worst about? The pikachu's bruised ribs, or the near destruction of her electrical pouch?"

Grovyle's overwhelming guilt caused him to stagger back a few steps.

"And that's not even going into psychological wounds… how does it feel knowing that you nearly traumatized the young treecko? If I hadn't stepped in when I did, you would have killed her partner right in front of her. Then she would have been just as alone as _you_ are…"

With that jab at the fact that his partner Laura was missing, Grovyle snapped. "How _dare _you bring that up?!" He screamed, lunging at Dusknoir in rage.

He never made contact, however, because the Spirit Trio immediately jumped in the way.

Grovyle fought wildly, trying to break through to attack Dusknoir. But, to his great confusion, he found that the more he fought, the harder it was to move. It was as if something was dampening his willpower…

He glared at Azelf once he realized what the psychic pokémon was doing, but it was no use. Soon enough, Grovyle was unable to move, and lay on the ground completely at the mercy of his opponents. When they came forward with the rope, he began to plead with them desperately.

"You don't know what you're doing!"

Mesprit scoffed. "Of course we do. We're saving the world!"

"Did Dusknoir tell you that? Don't listen to _him_! _He's_ the bad guy!" Grovyle begged as the trio began to tie him up. "Think about this situation; remember the task that was given to you long ago!"

Azelf paused as something nagged at his mind, but then he pushed the thought away and glared at Grovyle. "My task is to protect the Time Gears. And as for Dusknoir being the bad guy…Would a bad guy have saved Team Rainbow's lives? You know, when you nearly _killed_ them?"

"In this case? Yes. Believe me, if things are to continue on this way… they'd be _better off_ dead…" Grovyle muttered.

The Spirit Trio looked disgusted, but Dusknoir… Dusknoir was livid.

"_HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT?!"_ he snarled in fury, punching Grovyle in the gut and making him cry out in pain. "You would _dare_ imply that L—that the treecko should die?!"

Grovyle gasped for air, "If... if you take me back to the future, th-then it… w-would have been a—cough!—mercy kill…"

Dusknoir snapped. He wasn't really aware of what he was doing as he attacked the defenseless Grovyle; he just knew that he had to pay for those words.

The Spirit Trio was in shock. Sure, Grovyle was evil. And, sure, they were horrified to hear him say he believed that Team Rainbow should have died. But what Dusknoir was doing… if he didn't stop soon, Grovyle would likely perish. After all, he had already passed out some time ago.

"Dusknoir! Stop this! _Think_ about what you're doing!" Uxie called out.

Dusknoir abruptly stopped. His fist was still raised in the air, and he looked at it, considering something. He lowered it.

"You are right, Uxie. Please forgive my outburst," he apologized.

"Why don't you go get back-up? We can watch Grovyle until you return," Mesprit offered, hoping that some time away from Grovyle would help to cool his rage.

Dusknoir nodded, and shot one last, dark glare in Grovyle's direction before he melted into shadow.

* * *

Grovyle glared at the sableye ahead of him—was it Seis? He couldn't really tell—as he was forced to walk to Treasure Town, where Dusknoir had opened up a dimensional hole to the future.

"You're lucky I need you alive—for the moment, at least," Dusknoir hissed. "Otherwise you would be dead for saying those things about L—the treecko yesterday.

Grovyle tilted his head. That was the second time that Dusknoir had slipped up and nearly called the treecko something else.

"Why do you care so much about her welfare?" he inquired.

"It's rather ironic to hear those words come out of your mouth," Dusknoir chuckled. "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew who she was..."

"Then who _is_ she?" Grovyle demanded.

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out," Dusknoir said menacingly as he tied a muzzle around Grovyle's mouth. He smirked at Grovyle's glare before cheerfully saying. "Come now. We can't dawdle any longer. Everyone is eagerly waiting to see proof that you've been captured."


	14. Chapter 14: Coincidence

**Chapter 14: Coincidence**

"All right. It should be safe here. We can rest for a while," Grovyle said, taking one last look outside the small cave to be sure that there weren't any dangers he had missed. Pokémon in the dark future were notorious for lurking in the shadows, lulling you into a false sense of security and then striking when your guard was down.

He turned just in time to see Paula flop down on her back and dramatically say, "Finally! We've been walking _forever_!"

The pikachu's treecko friend giggled silently at her theatrics and sat down beside her, drawing her knees up to her chest. She winced as the movement jarred some of her injuries.

Grovyle noticed. "Here—we should probably take a look at your wounds," he said, drawing closer. "You said that you thought the bandages had been changed when you were thrown into the jail… have you changed them since?"

"No," Paula answered for her, sitting up. "We've been busy."

Grovyle shook his head. "That isn't an excuse. You have to make time to take care of yourself," he scolded as he began to remove the treecko's numerous bandages.

Paula didn't take kindly to the scolding, and decided to let him know that. "Yeah, well she wouldn't _have_ so many injuries in the first place if _you_ hadn't—"

"I apologize for attacking you, but, as you can now _clearly_ see, retrieving the Time Gear was necessary," Grovyle cut her off. He wasn't stupid. He knew full well that the pikachu was about to complain some more about the Crystal Lake incident, and, quite frankly, he was tired of hearing it. "I did not want to hurt either of you, but you were in my way. I can understand if you hate me, but—"

"I don't hate you," the treecko suddenly interrupted. Grovyle was a bit surprised, and looked up from where he was inspecting a gash on her arm. The treecko continued, "I never hated you. I mean, yeah, I was upset about what you were doing… and about the fact that when you attacked me, you nearly…" she trailed off before shaking her head and continuing, "But I knew that you must have had reasons that made perfect sense in your mind. And now that I know the truth and _understand_ your reasons… well, I'm not upset anymore. Don't you agree, Paula?"

Paula's jaw had dropped in shock—she had _never_ heard her friend talk so much to someone who she barely knew. Heck, she rarely talked that much to someone who she knew _well_! But when her friend turned her gaze to her, she immediately snapped her jaw shut before stammering, "W-well, yeah… I guess so…"

The treecko smiled before shifting her gaze back to Grovyle. She cocked her head at seeing that Grovyle also bore a surprised expression.

When Grovyle noticed this, he jumped slightly and returned to inspecting her injuries. "_That was… odd,"_ he decided. _"That… that sounded a lot like something Laura would have said…"_

He finished his inspection and began to dig into his treasure bag for supplies. He gave her his diagnosis, saying, "Your ribs are still bruised, and you still have some of the major gashes, but your broken arm is completely healed and, overall, things seem to be doing very well."

He got out his roll of Oran Berry juice soaked bandages and began to wrap them around the girl's wounds.

"What's with all the bandages in the future being blue?" Paula asked with curiosity.

"They aren't, actually," Grovyle replied absent-mindedly. "It's actually _rare_ to find someone who takes the time and effort to soak them in Oran Berry juice. Most pokémon don't see a point to it, since eating an Oran Berry is just as effective for far less effort."

"So… if they're so rare, why do _you_ have them?" Paula asked.

"They're not meant for me. They're for—" Grovyle cut himself off, angry at himself for not listening to what he was saying and feeling a twinge of sadness when he remembered who the bandages were _really_ supposed to be for.

Luckily for him, it didn't seem like Paula had noticed because when she next spoke it was a continuation of her previous thought. "Actually, come to think of it… why would _Dusknoir_ have them? And—leaving aside the fact that we s_till_ don't know why he did it—why would he use _those_ to treat you instead of just feeding you some berries?" she asked, directing her last comment at her friend.

The treecko shrugged, and then blushed when her stomach gurgled.

Grovyle chuckled, feeling glad for the topic change. "Speaking of feeding," he began, "we should probably eat something ourselves."

Team Rainbow nodded eagerly.

* * *

The trio looked at their options. It was definitely a varied assortment of food. There were some Apples and berries, of course, but Grovyle was surprised to find that there was also an unusual amount of Plain Seeds.

"Did you run into a lot of trouble when you were trying to find me?" he asked the duo from the past, frowning.

"Not really," Paula answered. "Why?"

"I know that I didn't use _that_ many Reviver Seeds… and if neither of you needed that many either, then I don't understand why…"

"Oh!" Paula exclaimed, suddenly understanding Grovyle's confusion. "No, don't worry about it. We always make sure that we have a supply of Plain Seeds in our treasure bag."

"Why would you do that?" Grovyle asked. "They don't do anything aside from fill your belly, and they taste disgusting…"

The treecko huffed. "I don't know why everyone keeps saying that. They're my favorite food!"

Grovyle was dumbstruck. _"No way… I thought that _Laura_ was the only one who enjoyed them… so, why…?"_

"Oh! But, Grovyle… if you didn't use many Reviver Seeds either… then why do _you_ have so many Plain Seeds?" Paula asked.

"…No reason," Grovyle answered. "I just… I haven't cleaned out my treasure bag in a while."

"Oh. Okay," Paula said, accepting the explanation and turning to her friend. "So… why don't Grovyle and I eat the Apples while you eat the Plain Seeds?"

The treecko shrugged and turned to Grovyle, silently asking permission.

Grovyle nodded in assent, and only felt a little sad as he watched the treecko happily consume the pile of Plain Seeds that he had horded for Laura to eat once they reunited.

* * *

The trio began to travel again. After a few "hours," Grovyle asked Team Rainbow to help him look for a secure spot where they could get some sleep. It was the treecko who found it; a hidden spot beneath the gnarled roots of a big tree.

Once they'd set up camp, Paula immediately fell asleep. But her partner and Grovyle stayed up a bit longer. Grovyle was watching the outside world, scanning it for any signs of trouble. He glanced back to see the treecko leaning up against the tree roots and frowning in thought.

"Something bothering you?" he asked.

The treecko jolted, not expecting to hear him speak, before frowning at him and shaking her head.

"You don't have to lie, you know. I can understand if you're upset about the state of this dark future…"

"It's not that," the treecko said, sighing.

Grovyle raised a brow in disbelief. "Really? If that's true, then you've adjusted to this place far more than I ever have—and I was _born_ here."

"It's not the first time I've had to adjust to a strange place where I have absolutely _no_ clue about anything…" the treecko mumbled, almost too quietly to hear.

But Grovyle _did_ hear it, and it piqued his curiosity. "What do you mean?" he asked.

The treecko shifted, seeming like she didn't want to answer, but then she sighed. "I have amnesia," she admitted. "My first memory is meeting Paula, hours before we joined the guild."

Grovyle was surprised. "Wait, wait, wait… right after discovering that you have amnesia… you go and join an exploration guild?" He whistled. "I guess you _do_ have a bit of practice with learning to adjust… Do you know why you lost your memory?"

The treecko shook her head. Grovyle frowned. "Huh. That's weird… I wonder if it's anything like with L—" he quickly slapped his claws over his mouth. He cursed himself for almost revealing his partner's name, and hoped that the treecko hadn't caught the near slip.

Unfortunately, she had.

"Almost like what?" she asked.

"Nothing, nothing… just a slip of the tongue," Grovyle said, trying to sound nonchalant.

The treecko crossed her arms. "You aren't lying, are you? Because the _last_ pokémon I told about this claimed that he _also _had absolutely no idea. Then he dragged me into the future."

"You told Dusknoir about this?" Grovyle asked in surprise. He frowned when she just glared at him and nodded. _"I wonder…"_ he thought. _"Is that__ why Dusknoir is so interested in her? Does her past hold some sort of secret?"_

Grovyle looked at the still glaring treecko, and tried to fish for some information. "You know what? You're very odd," he told her.

The treecko stopped glaring and stared at him in surprise.

"Take the way you walk, for instance," he said. "It's not normal. And I would know, having had first-hand experience."

The treecko rolled her eyes, muttering, "Yet _another_ thing that everyone says." In a louder voice she told Grovyle, "I've tried walking around like a 'normal' treecko… but walking upright just feels more natural to me."

Grovyle scoffed. "Well it looks to _me_ as if you're trying to act like a human."

The treecko perked up. "You know about humans? Have you seen one before? Where were they?" she asked eagerly.

Grovyle was a bit surprised. "I've only seen _one_ before," he said slowly, being careful not to say anything that could incriminate his partner, who was still in the past. "And it was in _this_ world, so…"

"Oh…" the treecko sighed, glancing down.

"You seem disappointed. Why?" Grovyle asked. The treecko tensed up, and Grovyle became suspicious. "Do you know something about humans?"

The treecko seemed hesitant. "I… I know a little," she admitted. "But I have a very, _very_ strong… _suspicion,_ that I used to know more before I lost my memories."

Grovyle nodded his head, contemplating this tidbit of information. _"Perhaps _that's_ where Dusknoir's interest comes from,"_ he reasoned. _"If she was some sort of 'human expert,' then Dusknoir might have wanted to use her to help him capture Laura… no. That can't be it. She told Dusknoir about her amnesia… without all her memories of humans, she would be useless for that purpose. Unless he thought that there might be a cure here in the future… which would be the perfect explanation for why he dragged her here and tried his best to make her healthy!"_

His ponderings were interrupted by a yawn, and he turned to see the treecko sleepily rubbing her eyes. Grovyle chuckled.

"You should get some sleep," he said. "Don't worry; I'll keep watch."

The treecko nodded her thanks, and he watched as she went to lie down next to her friend. She fell asleep, and Grovyle frowned when he observed her curling up into a tight ball. That was yet _another_ trait that this treecko shared in common with his friend.

"_Perhaps I'm wrong,_" Grovyle continued his contemplations. _"Perhaps the reason that Dusknoir is so interested in her is because she reminded him of Laura, and he thought that she would mess me up. But… _that_ doesn't make sense, either, because I _know_ he expected that trip to the stockades to kill me. Still… that similarity to Laura… is it really all _just_ a coincidence?"_


	15. Chapter 15: The Third Time's the Charm

**Chapter 15: The Third Time's the Charm**

Mesprit sighed as she watched her brother Azelf pace in front of his lake, which was still covered by the protective barrier. She could sense his restlessness and confusion, and his ever-growing worry about the state of the world. Azelf abruptly stopped and turned to face her.

"You're _sure_ that it didn't work? That it's not just… just a delayed reaction or something?"

"Yes, Azelf, I'm _sure_," she replied in annoyance. "I've _been_ sure for the past _two_ _weeks_! Ever since we put the Time Gear back! My lake is _still_ frozen! _It didn't work_!"

"What about Uxie's lake?" Azelf asked in desperation.

Mesprit sighed and shook her head. "No. I saw its state when he used his telepathy… the geysers are still frozen, stuck defying the laws of gravity."

Azelf turned back to face his lake, the only one of the trio's that remained vibrant and normal (even if it _was_ still crystallized). "So what are we supposed to do…?" he muttered.

"Uxie is looking into it. He's been studying almost nonstop…" Mesprit said with a sigh, shaking her head.

Azelf frowned. He bit his lip and glanced away before quietly asking, "Do you… do you think that maybe Grovyle was right?"

Mesprit was shocked that he would say something like that. She opened her mouth to question his sanity, but Azelf quickly cut her off. "Hear me out! We did what Dusknoir said to do… but nothing changed. Is it possible that Dusknoir was lying to us? That, in fact, _he_ is the villain, and not Grovyle?"

Mesprit looked uneasy, but she nonetheless answered, "I suppose… there's a _faint_ possibility…"

"And think about it," Azelf prompted. "He abducted Team Rainbow… but what reason would he have had to do that?"

Mesprit didn't have an answer.

"So, then, what's our next course of action? What do we do?" Azelf asked, although he was mostly speaking to himself.

Mesprit sighed and floated up higher. "I'm going to go see if Uxie is making any progress… and to make sure that he's remembering to eat…" she said, muttering that last part in exasperation at her brother's bad habits, before teleporting away.

Azelf stared out at his lake, as if looking at it would give him the answer.

* * *

Azelf felt someone shaking him. He could hear a concerned voice saying, "Uh… hey, hey? Are you… uh… are you okay? Azelf?"

Azelf immediately opened his eyes and shot into the air, blearily looking around for the intruder.

"Who's there?" he demanded. "I'm warning you—I won't be defeated easily!"

"Hey, hey! Calm down, Azelf! It's just me!" came a voice from beneath him.

Azelf glanced down to see Corphish staring up at him with a frown on his face. Azelf blushed with embarrassment and slowly dropped back down to a level that would make it easier for conversation.

"S-sorry Corphish… I didn't notice you come in…"

"Hey, hey! I found you conked out on the ground… is something wrong?"

Azelf sighed. "Mesprit came over last night. We were wondering why putting the Time Gears back had no effect on the state of the world. I stayed up to think on it after she left… I must have fallen asleep. Sorry for worrying you."

"Hey, hey! No problem!" Corphish assured. "Actually, that's why I came down here! Team Rainbow came back last night, and—"

"What? They're back?!" Azelf repeated, surprised, but also incredibly pleased. "That's… that's wonderful!" He paused and frowned as he remembered something. "Are they all right?" he asked. "Laura was still injured when Dusknoir took them…"

Corphish looked uncomfortable as he answered, "Uh… _physically_ they're fine… but mentally… hey, hey! With what they saw, I wouldn't be surprised if it took them a little time to recover… especially in Laura's case…"

Azelf's frown deepened. "What happened?"

"Well…" Corphish began.

* * *

"…so now we're looking for the Hidden Land while Grovyle recovers the Time Gears," Corphish finished. "Hey, hey! So… did you get all that?"

Azelf's face was blank. He nodded before he slowly floated over to the side of the cave… and began to beat his head against the wall.

"H-hey, hey!" Corphish cried out in alarm. "Why are you doing that?!"

"I'm. An. Idiot," Azelf muttered, berating himself as he continued to pound his head against the wall "He told me! Grovylve _told_ me to remember, and I just brushed him off!"

Azelf stopped pounding his head against the wall and covered his face with his hands. "How could we not _remember_ that?" he demanded of himself. "We were _there_ when she explained what they were for! And then _he_ chose us _specifically_ to—"

Azelf abruptly cut himself off as his face drained of color. "Ohhh no…" he moaned. "If—_when_—he finds out about this, he's going to _kill_ us! It won't matter that we're legendaries. He will find us, and he will be _sooo_ mad at us that he'll…"

"H-hey, hey! _What_ are you talking about?" Corphish demanded, thoroughly confused by Azelf's actions.

Azelf gulped. "Uh… my siblings and I _were_ actually told before of the possibility of Temporal Tower collapsing… but we sort of… forgot."

"You _forgot_?! Hey, hey! How do you _forget_ something like this?" Corphish asked incredulously.

"It was a really long time ago!" Azelf exclaimed in defense. "And it's not as though we were constantly reminded of it! _Those two_ left, and then _he_ became depressed, and everyone just sort of… lost contact with each other."

"'He?' 'Those two?' Who are you talking about?" Corphish asked, feeling curious.

"That's another thing… no one remembers the story anymore…" Azelf sighed. Then he snorted derisively. "Including us. And _we_ were _there_."

He glanced down again to see Corphish with his head cocked, waiting expectantly for an explanation.

Azelf sighed. "Listen… the story… it's, well… we don't have time for it at the moment. If the tower _is_ collapsing, then we need to hurry up and find the Hidden Land!"

Corphish jumped. "Oh! Right! I have to go tell Uxie and Mesprit too!"

Azelf shook his head. "There's no need. I'll tell them telepathically." Azelf paused. "Although," he amended, "perhaps you _should_ go to Uxie's lake. He might know something about where they moved the Hidden Land after the… incident."

"Uh… the 'incident'?" Corphish asked.

Azelf waved him off, "Nothing, nothing… it's not important."

Corphish left, giving Azelf one last puzzled glance on the way out, and Azelf turned to face his crystalized lake.

"_I should probably get rid of this barrier,"_ he thought to himself. _"Otherwise, Grovyle won't be able to reach the Time Gear."_ As he brought the barrier down, another thought occurred to him._ "Huh… now that I think of it… this will make it _three_ times that he's come here to try and claim it… Oh well. You know what they say: 'The third time's the charm.'"_


	16. Chapter 16: Laura's Smile

**Chapter 16:** **Laura's Smile**

Dusknoir groaned as the effects of the time travelling wore off. No matter how many times he'd been through a dimensional hole, he still hadn't gotten used to it. He doubted that he ever would... assuming that he ever needed to go through one again. He slowly got up to take stock of the situation.

The hallway was dark, and by the architecture he could tell that he was back in the paralyzed future. He could see jail cells to the left and right, so obviously Dialga had opened up a dimensional hole that lead to one of his prisons. Specifically, the one that was closest to the remains of Temporal Tower.

Dusknoir turned around to ascertain the conditions of his fellow travelers. Seis and Un were fine, and were already standing. Grovyle was, thankfully, still passed out and his bonds appeared to have held up through the journey. Paula was also unconscious, but Dusknoir couldn't discern any physical damage. Then he turned to Laura.

Laura… well, she was still in poor shape, but Dusknoir couldn't see any evidence that the trip had _worsened_ her condition, for which he was thankful. Her bandaging, however, was made of flimsier material than Grovyle's bonds and had been shredded to pieces, exposing her gashes and bruising. Her splint was completely wrecked, and since Dusknoir was unsure of how much that arm had healed, he made a mental note to be extra careful around it. She, like her friends, was also unconscious.

Dusknoir heard a clang and turned in its direction. A door had opened at the end of the hall, and the rest of his lackeys were making their way towards him.

"Wheh heh heh! Master Dusknoir! Welcome back!" Cuatro said in greeting.

"We've prepared the cells, just like you asked!" Trois reported.

"And the medical room is just through that door!" Cinq added.

Dusknoir nodded. "Good… very good. Everything is going according to—"

A small groan cut him off. He whipped around in its direction to see that Laura was beginning to stir!

"Cinq!" Dusknoir hissed. "Bring me the Sleep Seed medication!"

Cinq saluted and scurried off.

Dusknoir and the other sableye held their breath as Laura struggled to open her eyes. She managed to succeed, but her eyes were clouded and she was disoriented. She tried to sit up, but her injured arm coudn't support her weight and she fell back down in a heap, moaning in pain. Dusknoir hurried to her side and held her down so that she wouldn't accidentally harm herself again.

When Cinq brought him the medicine, Dusknoir poured it down her throat and gave a relieved sigh when it knocked her out fully again. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, muttering, "That was close…"

He turned to the sableye and issued orders. "Dos and Trois, take Grovyle to cell 43. Cuatro and Seis, take Paula to cell 28. Once you've finished, go to the meeting room and wait for me."

"Wheh heh heh! Yes, Master Dusknoir!" the sableye said as they hurried to obey.

Dusknoir turned to Un and Cinq and said, "I want you two to go to Master Dialga and tell him that I will give him my report as soon as I have tended to Laura. Then join the other sableye."

Un and Cinq gulped. Primal Dialga was even scarier than Dusknoir… but they nonetheless obeyed orders and rushed off.

Once Dusknoir was alone with his unconscious charge, he sighed and headed off to the medical room.

* * *

As Dusknoir had suspected, Laura's arm w_as_ still injured. But it wasn't as bad as it had been when he'd left for Crystal Lake, and it would be fine without a splint as long as he wrapped the bandages tightly enough. He was relieved to see that her attempts to get up while she was still confused and half-conscious hadn't done much damage. The injuries caused by Grovyle's sharp claws were still mostly present, but the Oran Berry juice in the bandages would soon take care of them. And the deep gash that had been on her left leg had fully healed.

As Dusknoir dressed her wounds, he couldn't help but remember how he and Laura had met, all those "years" ago. The condition she had been in… he shuddered. He was struck with the irony of how similar these situations were. Both times the girl's injuries had come from a betrayal by those she _should_ have been able to trust the most. _This_ time it had been her best friend. The last time it had been…

Dusknoir shook his head. It was no good to think of such things now. Still, he couldn't help but recall the aftermath of the last instance…

* * *

She had been groggy and disoriented, of course. It wasn't surprising. She had lost a lot of blood and awoken to find herself in a strange place. Still, once she realized that she was out of danger, and that _he_ was her savior… the smile that she had given him… it had amazed him how _bright_ and _happy_ it was. He couldn't understand how she could still have the ability to feel joy so pure and sweet after what she had been through. And the way it made _him_ feel… it was magical. All the fear, pain, and anger… all the _darkness_… that smile just chased it all away.

And that had just been the _smile_. Her beautiful, stunning eyes, so similar to _hers_, were always so bright and full of hope and innocence… it was if they _existed_ to spite the dark world. Her laughter was infectious, and it caused him to laugh too, for the first time since… well, for the first time in a while. He was startled to find that being around her made him _happy_. When he was with her… the darkness of the paralyzed world couldn't touch him. What was more, he was startled to find that _he_ could make _her_ happy as well. His minions had told him that her demeanor would brighten even more when they mentioned that he was coming to see her, and he could remember how she would tell him how much she'd missed him when he returned from going on a long mission.

Her level of faith and trust in him had been so high that, on one occasion, _he_ had been the partner required to set off a Dimensional Scream.

Dusknoir always felt bittersweet when he recalled that incident. Part of him looked upon it with fondness because he had enjoyed the level of trust that they had shared. But the other part of him cursed it because it had been the catalyst for the chain of events that had eventually led to the present moment...

* * *

He knew that there would be no smile when she woke up this time. Even if he wasn't her enemy at the _moment_, Dusknoir knew that he would be blacklisted the instant she saw Paula tied up to the stockade. He wished that it wasn't necessary… but it was the only way to chain Laura to the dark world. Without her friends to fall back on, she would have no choice but to turn her allegiance to Dialga. His rule would be all that she had left. And without a trusted partner, she would never be able to have a Dimensional Scream again. She would never find out the truth, and Dialga's rule would stay safe…

But any chance of light would be snuffed out forever.

* * *

Dusknoir sighed as he carried Laura to cell 28 and laid her down beside her friend. At least they would have a _little_ more time together.

With a heavy heart he went to report his success to Dialga. Once that was done, he would brief the sableye and prepare the stockade. Then this whole, harrowing ordeal would _finally_ be over.

Still… he tried to prolong the inevitable for as long as possible, because he knew that once the threat was gone… it would take with it any chance of him ever again seeing Laura's smile…


	17. Chapter 17: This Time

**Chapter 17:** **This Time**

Ditto frowned as he looked at the Time Gear that Uxie had placed back in its usual spot a few weeks ago. It hadn't done much good; the place was still frozen in time. Ditto sighed in dissapointment. It wasn't because of the state of his home, but, rather, because of the fact that Grovyle had failed and the Spirit Trio appeared to have forgotten their purpose. He found it rather ironic. After all, they had _been_ there when the Time Gears had first come into the world. _He_ only knew about it because his family had passed the story down from one guardian to the next for generations.

Ditto sighed again. What was he to do…? He had no clue where the Hidden Land was, and even if he _had_ known, he only had _one _of the Time Gears in his possession. Sure, he could have gone to Treeshroud Forest to claim that one as well… but that would still only be _two_. He doubted that the Spirit Trio would part with their Time Gears, and the few other locations he knew of had tight, mostly non-sentient, security.

Ditto frowned. He had really thought that Grovyle would succeed. He could still remember when he came to the cavern all those months ago…

* * *

_This pokémon was not one to be trifled with. He reminded Ditto of that wigglytuff from a few years ago… _he_ hadn't fallen for his illusions either…_

_When the grovyle passed right by him without a single glance when he was in his treasure chest form, he decided to speak up._

"_Why did you come here?" he asked, turning back to normal._

_The grovyle turned around and subtly shifted into a fighting stance. "… I need the Time Gear."_

"… _Time Gear… Why?" Ditto asked._

"_I need it to save the world."_

"… _Save the world…?" Ditto repeated with a frown. Then he realized something and exclaimed, "Oh! Are you going to take it to Temporal Tower?"_

_The grovyle's defensive stance dropped and he took on a dumbfounded expression. "You… you _know_ about that?" he asked in surprise._

"… _Know about that…? Of course! That's the reason I'm guarding the Time Gear here in Limestone Cavern. Why are you so surprised?"_

"_It's just… I was under the impression that _no one_ remembered the legends…" the grovyle replied, calming slightly. _

"… _Legends… I'm not surprised," Ditto said with a sigh. "It happened a long time ago, and once the humans went into hiding… well, they didn't get told that often. In fact, the only reason _I_ know is because the former guardian—my grandfather—told me when I inherited his position."_

"_I see…" the grovyle nodded. Then he sighed and his expression became downcast. "It's too bad my partner isn't here… she always loved that story… she would have been so happy to meet someone_ else _who knew it…"_

"… _Knew it… Yes. Those stories… they're easy to adore," Ditto agreed. "But… your partner…?"_

_The grovyle's shoulders sagged even more. "I… yeah. She and I… we're from a future where the world is paralyzed. We had to travel back in time to get here, and on the way we had… I suppose you could call it an accident. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but… anyways, we got separated, and now I don't know where she is..."_

"… _Where she is… Sorry about that," Ditto sympathized. "What does she look like?"_

_The grovyle snorted. "Believe me, you'd know her if you saw her. She's a human."_

"… _A human…?!" Ditto repeated in shock. He frowned, muttering, "I suppose that would explain why she knows the legend…" _

"_Yeah," the grovyle agreed. "And speaking of legends… I really need to get that Time Gear…"_

"… _Time Gear… Of course. It's this way," Ditto said as he led him deeper into the cavern._

"_What's your partner's name? If she comes here, I can give her a message for you," Ditto offered once the two had reached the gear._

"_Her name is Laura," the grovyle said. He was too busy studying the Time Gear to notice the surprised expression on Ditto's face when he heard the name. "If she _does_ come here, then tell her that Grovyle said Treeshroud Forest has been taken care of, so she should head to the lakes of the Spirit Trio. Got it?"_

_Ditto wiped the surprised expression off of his face when Grovyle turned back to him, and he repeated, "… Got it…"_

_Grovyle took the Time Gear, and they both hurried to escape the cavern as time began to stop. Once they were both safely out, Grovyle headed off._

"_And don't worry! I won't tell anyone that the Time Gear here is gone!" Ditto called out to his retreating form._

* * *

Ditto _hadn't_ told anyone about the "theft," but someone _else_ had spread the word. After all, it was nearly impossible to miss the fact that part of the world was now frozen in time. At least they hadn't known who took it…

Ditto had kept his eyes open for news on Grovyle's progress, and he had been worried when he saw the wanted posters. Then when he heard that Grovyle had been dragged back to the future…

Ditto heaved another sigh. He hadn't heard any word of a human roaming around, so hopefully it meant that Laura was still out and about and would finish the job for him. Although, when he thought about how the "great" Dusknoir had kidnapped that one exploration team—Team Rainbow, that was the name—and that one of their members bore the name Laura… he got a sinking suspicion that something _really bad_ might have happened to her…

Ditto frowned. He needed to think of a solution. Judging by the state of things, _he_ was the only one left that could fix the-

"Ditto!" he heard a familiar voice call out. "Are you still here?"

Ditto smiled widely as he recognized Grovyle's voice. Somehow, he had made it back from the future!

"… Still here…? Yes!" Ditto called back. He plucked the Time Gear from its resting place before going over to greet him.

"Ditto!" Grovyle said in relief upon seeing the pink blob. "I'm glad to see you…"

"… See you… Yes. Me too," Ditto reciprocated before offering him the Time Gear. "You'll need this, I suppose?"

Grovyle chuckled sheepishly. "Er… yes…"

Ditto chuckled as well. "… Yes… Try not to fail again, okay?"

"Don't worry, Ditto," Grovyle assured. "I'll get it right this time!"


	18. Chapter 18: It Would Never Happen

**Chapter 18:** **It Would Never Happen**

It was nearly dinnertime in the guild, and all the apprentices were enjoying chatting with each other while they waited for Chimecho to finish. Most of it was meaningless small-talk... but on the very fringe of the group, Team Rainbow appeared to be discussing something serious.

Laura shuffled her feet. "I…I don't know, Paula," she said uncertainly. "I mean… it just feels like it would be weird to go up and _ask_ him something like that…"

"Don't worry about it!" Paula said encouragingly. "I mean, that's part of why you joined the guild, isn't it? To find out what happened?"

Laura glanced over to where everyone else was. "But… what if he thinks I'm crazy?" she asked desperately, looking back to Paula. "I mean… _you_ didn't believe me when I told you…"

Paula cringed. "Okay, fair enough. Um… oh! I know!" she exclaimed. "Instead of telling him that you're a human, why don't you ask him about humans in general? Like, where they live or if it's possible for them to turn into a pokémon… something like that."

Laura just frowned and shuffled her feet some more.

Paula rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Laura. _I'm_ supposed to be the timid one, remember? Here, I'll come with you," she said before she took her friend's hand and began to drag her over to the others. "Hey Chatot!" she called. "Laura wants to ask you something!"

_That_ got everyone's attention. Shy, quiet Laura had an actual _question_? For someone _other_ than Paula? Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the treecko curiously.

Chatot was just as surprised as everyone else. He turned from his conversation with Wigglytuff to look at her."Yes? What is it?" he asked.

Laura seemed petrified. She blushed furiously under the curious gazes and began to shrink back.

"Well?" Chatot asked, becoming annoyed.

"I… uh…" Laura stammered.

"Come ON! Spit it OUT!" Loudred called from across the room.

"Do you know anything about humans?" Laura blurted out.

Chatot was surprised. "Squawk! _Humans_? Why do you want to know about _them_?" he asked.

Laura just blushed and shuffled her feet. "I… w-well…" she stammered out, looking at Paula and silently begging for her help.

Paula sighed and decided to take pity on her. "Well, I mean, they're rare, right? You don't usually see them…We were just… curious."

Chatot sighed. "Yes, well there's a _reason_ you don't see them very often. They went into hiding a long time ago."

Laura frowned. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but Sunflora beat her to the punch. "Oh my gosh! Why would they do that?"

Chatot shook his head. "I wouldn't know," he said. "Not many of their stories were passed down…"

"Oh…" Laura sighed in disappointment.

"It was for their protection," Wigglytuff suddenly piped up. Everyone glanced at him in surprise. Wigglytuff explained, "I don't know all the details… but I heard that there was a _big_ fight between humans and pokémon a long, _long_ time ago. Something important almost got destroyed, and Arceus had to step in."

"No way!" Loudred exclaimed. "_ARCEUS?_ Why would _HE_ have stepped in?"

"Golly!" Bidoof exclaimed. "That must have been something _real_ important that almost got destroyed…"

"What… what was it?" Paula asked.

Wigglytuff merely smiled and shook his head. "Haven't a clue! But after that, all the humans went into hiding. They rarely come out, so not much is known about them." He noticed Laura's disappointed look. "Sorry, friend!" he said.

Laura glanced at him and shook her head, giving a weak smile

Paula frowned. "So… there aren't _any_ stories about them left? Or any… oh, I don't know… legends where they, maybe… get turned into pokémon?"

Laura shot her a glare for treading on thin ice like that, but she ignored it.

"Meh heh heh… you actually came pretty close to one a while ago, Laura," Croagunk said. When she looked at him curiously, he explained. "Your horror story. Meh heh heh… When you told us that the boy went off to search for the ninetales and got cursed. There's _another_ story like that in a faraway region. A human pulled on a ninetales' tail and got a thousand-year curse that ended with them turning into a pokémon." Laura gave him a stunned look, and he laughed.

"Hey, Dad?" Diglett asked. "Could that actually happen?"

Dugtrio shook his head. "No, my son. It is merely a legend. There is no way possible that a human could _actually_ turn into a pokémon."

Paula and Laura shared a glance.

"Actually…" Paula began, only to be interrupted when Chimecho came into the room.

"Everyone! It's ready!" Chimecho said.

"HOORAY!" everyone cheered as they rushed into the dining room.

Team Rainbow was left behind. They shared a glance.

"Well," Paula began. "If there's so little information on humans, then it looks like finding out about your past might be harder than we thought."

"Do… do you think that maybe it _was_ a curse that did this?" Laura asked quietly.

"No way!" Paula said. "You're too nice—and _smart_—to do something like pull a ninetales' tail. It would be like… like a pokémon coming from the future so that they could change the past. It would _never_ happen."


	19. Chapter 19: Favorite Color

**Chapter 19:** **Favorite Color**

"WHAT?! NO WAY!" Loudred shouted in disbelief.

"Eeek! Not so loud, Loudred! Chatot will get mad!" Sunflora cautioned. Chatot had only approved the little "meetings" that the apprentices had in the evenings on the condition that they didn't stay up to late or get too rowdy. In fact, the only reason that he had allowed their long and loud "Scary Story Fest" a few months ago was because Guildmaster Wigglytuff had wanted to join in too.

"Erk! R-right… b-but there's just NO WAY that's true! There's NO WAY you two actually had a CONVERSATION with the great Dusknoir!"

"It is _so_ true, Loudred!" Paula insisted. "Chatot sent us to ask the Kecleon brothers if they were going to stock Perfect Apples in their shop—they aren't, by the way—and the great Dusknoir was there talking to them! Then he talked to _us_ too!"

"Golly! So what's he like?" Bidoof asked.

"He's very polite. And he really _is_ knowledgeable! He told us all about the item Water Float," Paula reported.

"Did he tell you anything else?" Chimecho asked. "Like, what his favorite color is?"

Everyone looked at her strangely.

"Chimecho, _why_ would he tell them something like that?" Dugtrio asked.

He meant it as a rhetorical question, but Chimecho answered anyways. "It would be the perfect introduction! You can tell a lot about someone by knowing their favorite color."

"Oh, really?" Dugtrio asked, not believing her. "My favorite color is brown. What does that tell you about me?"

"It tells me that you're sturdy and hardworking. You'll stop at nothing to reach your goals, no matter how long it takes or how hard the journey becomes," Chimecho answered.

Dugtrio was stunned. "Ah… w-well… I suppose your 'color theory' _might_ have _some_ merit…" he conceded, blushing at the praise.

"Ooh! Ooh! My favorite color is yellow!" Bidoof exclaimed. "What does that say about _me_?"

"Probably that you're very cheerful and don't let the small things get you down," Paula told him with a smile.

Bidoof blushed. "Golly… that's awful nice of you to say…"

"Oh my gosh! I bet _your_ favorite color is dark blue," Sunflora said to Chimecho, with a knowing grin.

"How did you know that?" Chimecho asked, surprised that Sunflora had gotten it right.

"Oh… just a guess…" Sunflora replied. But she winked conspiratorially at Team Rainbow and pointed to Croagunk. His skin color was dark blue.

Paula giggled. Maybe Sunflora had been onto something when she implied that Chimecho might have a crush on Croagunk…

"MY favorite color is RED!" Loudred suddenly declared.

"Meh heh heh… that would explain your short temper," Croagunk said with a smirk.

"H-HEY!" Loudred shouted out with indignation.

Laura surprised everyone by giggling, and that just made Loudred even more embarrassed. He rounded on her. "Well if you think it's so FUNNY, what's YOUR favorite color?" he demanded.

Laura blinked and got a contemplative look on her face. "White," she decided.

"_White_?" Corphish asked. "Hey, hey! Why would your favorite color be something boring like _that_?"

Laura frowned. "It isn't boring. The color white… it's like a blank canvas. It has the potential to become _anything_."

Everyone paused at her profound statement.

"Okay, fair enough," Corphish conceded. "But, hey, hey! If you had to choose a _color_-color, what would it be?"

Laura rolled her eyes. White was _so_ a _color_-color. Still, she decided to humor him. "I guess… either blue-green or... gold."

"Blue-green? Like the Time Gear we saw?" Paula asked. Laura hesitantly nodded. That _was_ the shade she was thinking of, but, somehow, she didn't think that the Time Gear was the reason _why_…

"I can see that, hey, hey!" Corphish said. "It _was_ really pretty... so then, why gold?"

Laura blinked and shrugged, and a blush started to rise on her face.

"HUH? Why are you BLUSHING?" Loudred asked.

"I… I don't know," Laura stammered out a reply, blushing some more.

"Meh heh heh… it sounds to me like our little Laura has a crush on someone who has something to do with the color gold…" Croagunk teased.

Laura became panicked. She _really_ had _no clue_ why she was blushing. It was probably safe to assume that the color gold had some significance in her past… but because of her amnesia, she had no clue what that significance _was_…

"Come on, Croagunk, lay off her," Paula said, coming to her friend's rescue. She smiled when Laura silently mouthed "Thank you" at her, and she asked, "What's _your_ favorite color, Croagunk?"

"Me? Meh heh heh… I'd have to agree with Laura's first answer: White. But not for the same reasons, of course…"

Paula glanced at Sunflora, who looked a little shocked, and then at Chimecho. If Sunflora was right about Chimecho's reasons for liking dark blue, then Paula had a _pretty good_ idea what Croagunk's reasons were for liking the color white…

"Hm… interesting," was all Chimecho had to say on the subject. "But going back to my original point…" she suddenly said, "what do you think is the _great Dusknoir's_ favorite color?"


	20. Chapter 20: The Beginning

**Chapter 20:** **The Beginning**

Paula sighed mournfully as she trudged down the steps that lead to the Wigglytuff Guild. _"Another day, another failed attempt…"_ she thought miserably. She glanced at the sky and frowned. _"And what's worse is that I won't even be able to go to the beach tonight!"_

It was true. The clouds in the sky were turning from being a happy, fluffy white to an ominous gray. The wind was beginning to pick up, and Paula could smell moisture in the air. Tiny tingles were running through her electrical pouches—a sure sign that a storm was approaching. Paula sighed once more before heading towards Treasure Town, which she needed to pass through to get to her home on Sharpedo Bluff.

* * *

"Hey, hey! You don't think that Sunflora is going to freak out again, do you?" Paula heard someone say once she had reached Kanagaskhan Storage. She glanced over see one of the guild's apprentices—Corphish, she thought his name was—talking to another apprentice that she recognized as being the newest one, who she thought was named Bidoof.

"Oof… Because of the storm, you mean?" Bidoof asked. "Golly, I hope not… Loudred's snores already leave me sleep-deprived enough as it is…"

"I just don't understand why the sound of thunder scares her so much. I mean, hey, hey! It's just a noise!" Corphish said, shaking his head.

The low sound of thunder rumbled in the air, and the conversation paused.

"You'd better head home, Dearies," Kangaskhan suggested. "You have a bit of a walk ahead of you, and you don't want to be caught out in the storm!"

"Hey, hey! Thanks, Kangaskhan! We'll head back now—it's almost time for dinner, anyways," Corphish said before he and Bidoof began to head home. As they passed Paula, they nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

Paula watched them go, and she sighed again once they were out of sight. "If someone who's afraid of something as harmless as _thunder_ can muster up their courage to join the guild, then why can't _I_…?" she muttered to herself.

"I take it you had trouble again today?" Kangaskhan asked.

"Yeah," Paula mumbled, looking down. "I chickened out again. Maybe I just… don't have what it takes…"

Kangaskhan shook her head. "No, Sweetheart, don't think things like that. I'm certain that you're capable enough. Didn't you leave home so that you could fulfill your dreams?"

"Well, yeah…" Paula agreed.

"And have you ever once thought of going home in defeat?"

"No way!" Paula exclaimed. "I promised myself that I wouldn't head back home until I was a member of the Wigglytuff Guild!"

Kangaskhan smiled. "See? The potential is there, now you just need to fulfill it." Kangaskhan paused in thought before suggesting, "Perhaps all you need is some encouragement? Why don't you try holding something that inspires you next time?"

"…I'll think about it," Paula promised. Then she felt something wet land on her fur and looked up to see that it was beginning to rain. "I'd better get home. Thanks for the advice!" Paula said as she headed off.

"You're welcome, Dearie!" Kangaskhan called at her retreating form.

* * *

Paula got home just in time; the second she made it through the door, there was a humongous crash of thunder and a flash of lightning lit up the sky. Rain began to pelt the ground in a deluge.

Paula began to contemplate Kangaskhan's advice. What could she bring as inspiration? A picture of her brother? Nah… While he _was_ part of the reason she wanted to become an explorer, it would be too weird to use him as "encouragement" when all he did was tease her. Maybe she could bring a slip of paper with her dream written on it? Nah…. She would probably tear it on accident by fiddling with it in her nervousness. Perhaps she could bring-

"Waaaaaah!"

Her thoughts were violently interrupted by the sudden noise, and she jolted in shock. "Was… was that a shriek?!" she exclaimed. Then she frowned. "No… it was probably just my imagination…"

"_Waaaaaah!"_

But when she heard the sound again, she knew she wasn't imagining things. She hurried over to the "teeth" part of the bluff to see what was going on. The second she looked out, her jaw dropped in shock.

The sky… among the storm clouds, there seemed to be something swirling… and it was giving off this weird light… Suddenly, flashes of what _looked_ like electricity began to spew out of the anomaly in the sky. But… it couldn't _possibly_ be lightning. Lightning was white. Whatever _this_ was… it was multicolored, almost like a rainbow. Paula thought that it would have been pretty if it wasn't so terrifying.

As Paula watched, the "electrical" discharge suddenly intensified, and the sound—scream?—resounded again, sounding more desperate than before.

"_WAAAAAAH!"_

Paula could swear she saw something drop from the anomaly and begin to fall towards the ocean below. It was sparking too, and giving off this weird energy. And it almost seemed to be changing shape… Paula gasped, but before the whatever-it-was could hit the water, a… a _shadow_ seemed to rush out of the anomaly in the sky and catch it.

Suddenly, a flash of light illuminated the world. At first Paula thought it was lightning, but when she didn't hear any accompanying thunder and realized that it left the heavens illuminated in a colored glow, she wasn't so sure… Another light flashed, followed closely by a bolt of lightning and the rumble of thunder.

Paula rubbed her eyes—the two bright flashes having momentarily blinded her. When she opened them again, everything was normal. There was no anomaly in the stormy sky, no weird, sparking objects, no strange shadows, and no glow.

Wait… Paula took that thought back. There _was_ still a glow… but it was coming from behind her…

Paula looked over to see that it was coming from the direction of her bed, and, specifically, from the place where she had last set down…

"My Relic Fragment!" Paula gasped in surprise, hurrying over to it. She picked it up and saw that the strange inscription on it was glowing!

"Oh!" Paula exclaimed, suddenly remembering something. "This glow… this is like what happened when I first found it!"

Paula's eyes lit up as she pushed all memories of the night's weirdness to the back of her thoughts and an idea began to form in her mind. "I know! I'll use _this_ as my inspiration tomorrow! The glowing must be a good omen. After all, _last_ time it glowed, _that_ happened…" Paula smiled at a memory. "Hopefully, it will bring me good luck this time, too!"

The glowing ceased, and Paula carefully, almost reverently, set the Relic Fragment back down.

"Okay… tomorrow for sure!" Paula decided with confidence. "Tomorrow, I'll join the Wigglytuff Guild! My life as an explorer… tomorrow will be the beginning!"


	21. Chapter 21: Weird

**Chapter 21:** **Weird**

The trio of Grovyle, Laura, and Paula was once again travelling in silence, but this time the silence was more companionable. They could hear the sound of rustling leaves and feel the warmth of the sun when it filtered through the branches that canopied Treeshroud Forest. Grovyle was leading again, since he was the one who knew what to expect, having been there before.

Grovyle glanced back to his left, where Laura was trailing behind him. She was being quiet, but that was the norm for her. She seemed to be in her element, scanning the dungeon for any signs of danger. It wasn't surprising; she was a natural explorer. She caught Grovyle looking at her and offered him a small smile, which he returned. He was glad that she hadn't seemed overly distressed to hear about her past, but he wasn't too surprised. She had always been able to bounce back quickly when she had one of her… "episodes."

Grovyle glanced back to the right… and saw that Paula was staring at him. She'd been doing ever since they had entered the forest, and Grovyle was beginning to get annoyed.

Grovyle sighed. "Honestly, what _is_ it with you two?" he asked, causing both Paula and Laura to look at him. Laura cocked her head, prompting him to explain. He obliged, "First, in the dark world, it was Laura who was staring at me. Now it's you, Paula? Why?"

Paula blushed. "Ah… sorry Grovyle. I was just… thinking."

"What about?" he asked.

For some reason, the question made her blush harder. "Um… I was just wondering… what is it about the paralyzed future that makes its inhabitants so _weird_?"

Grovyle abruptly stopped. "I beg your pardon?" he demanded.

Paula fidgeted. "Um… well, I don't mean to offend you," she began, "but I just don't understand why you didn't tell anyone what you were doing when you came back here last time. I mean, I bet if you had just _told_ Uxie, Mesprit, or Azelf why you needed the Time Gears, they would have given them to you without a fight."

"I can understand why you would think that, but it wouldn't have been that simple," Grovyle explained, beginning to move again. "When Laura and I began to look for the Time Gears, it became obvious that _no one_ remembered their purpose, or even that they _existed_. We thought that it was because the world had been paralyzed for so long... but when I got to the past, I quickly realized that it was time in general that had caused everyone to forget." Grovyle paused. "Well, _almost_ everyone," he amended. "Ditto still remembered."

"Okay, fair enough," Paula conceded. "But that still doesn't explain why _Dusknoir_ was so weird."

"What do you mean?" Grovyle asked, perplexed.

"Well, I didn't think it was odd at the _time_, but looking back on it…" Paula shrugged. "I don't get why he didn't just _lie_ to us."

Grovyle and Laura glanced at each other before staring back at her in disbelief.

"No, really! Think about it, Laura. Everything that Dusknoir told us… in a way, it was all true!"

She began to tick off the instances on her paws. "First off… Grovyle, you really a_re_ a notorious criminal in the future—Dialga wanted you dead! Secondly… for Dialga, your plan really _was_ 'catastrophic.' And since you knew that removing a Time Gear would cause time to stop… you really _were_ planning to cause a temporary paralysis of the world!"

Her companions' jaws dropped in shock. When she put it _that_ way… she had a point…

"In fact, I think that the only time he ever _actually_ lied to us was when he said that your name meant nothing to him, Laura," Paula concluded.

Laura frowned and crossed her arms, mulling it over. Grovyle bit his lip and glanced away. "Actually… that might not have been a lie either…" he said.

Laura and Paula immediately looked at him in surprise. "Huh?" Paula asked. "But… surely he would care that he'd found Laura… and _surely_ he would want to lie about it so that she wouldn't get suspicious… right?"

Grovyle looked back at her and shook his head. "I'm not saying that he didn't care. I'm just saying that the name _itself_ wouldn't matter to him," he explained. He turned to Laura and said, "Laura, even if you _hadn't_ told him your name, he would have found out who you were eventually. You still act the same as when you were a human, and since _I_ was starting to get suspicious of all the 'coincidences' that I noticed while we were in the dark world, he _definitely_ would have, sooner or later."

He glanced away again and muttered, "Besides, he could have been referring to the fact that your name means _much more_ to someone _else_."

"Someone else?" Paula asked in confusion. Then she blinked as the realization hit her. "Oh, you mean like Dialga? Yeah, I guess I can see that… _you_ were a threat to him too, Laura."

Laura frowned and looked at Grovyle, who was still purposefully looking away. "But… that's not what you meant, is it?" she asked him quietly.

Grovyle cringed, but refused to answer.

"…Does this have anything to do with why Dialga was staring at me?"

"Dialga was staring at you?" Paula asked in surprise. "Why would he do that?"

Laura shrugged, and they both looked to Grovyle for an explanation.

"I wouldn't… I wouldn't know…" Grovyle said, glancing away.

Laura wasn't fooled. He _definitely_ knew something… but she decided not to push it. The way he had looked when he said that… she could tell that it was a touchy subject. If she wanted to know the truth, then it would likely require a long conversation for which a mystery dungeon was not the proper atmosphere. Hopefully he would tell her later, once everything had calmed down and the world was no longer in danger.

"But, in answer to your question Paula," Grovyle suddenly said, startling Laura out of her thoughts. "I would assume that, just as it causes hearts to become bitter and twisted, the perpetual darkness of the paralyzed future is what causes pokémon to become, as you put it, 'weird.'"


	22. Chapter 22: Paranoid

**Chapter 22:** **Paranoid**

With the addition of Celebi to the team, the odd trio had become an even odder quartet. If _that_ wasn't strange enough, then the way that they had grouped themselves surely was. One would think that Celebi would have chosen to travel beside Grovyle, as she _was_ a close friend of his. But, no, she had decided to hang back and chat with Paula. The two seemed to have hit it off well; Grovyle could hear them giggling from time to time. It annoyed him for two reasons.

One: He didn't care _how_ confident Celebi was, the level of noise they were making was still unsafe!

Two: He had the strangest suspicion that _he_ was the cause of their giggling…

A particularly loud giggle made him growl in annoyance, and he promptly decided to ignore them. He looked over to his right to check on the last member of the group: the mysterious young treecko. He had expected her to be stuck in her own little world, ignoring everything around her as she had been for the majority of their journey through Dusk Forest, so he was surprised to see her looking back at Celebi and Paula and frowning in worry. What surprised him further was how much it _bothered_ him to see that expression on her face. It was almost as if he was looking at Laura…

"…Hey," he began, causing her to jolt in slight surprise before looking at him curiously. "Would you mind getting Celebi for me? I have to ask her something."

The treecko nodded and slowed down a bit to let the giggling duo catch up with her. She said something too quiet for Grovyle to hear, and Paula giggled again and nudged Celebi, causing her to blush. Grovyle rolled his eyes. Honestly. Sometimes, girls were so _weird_…

* * *

"So, my dear Grovyle, you had a question for me?" Celebi asked.

Grovyle rolled his eyes at the term of endearment and replied, "Yes. How much farther is it to the Passage of Time?

Celebi sighed in exasperation. "It's not far. But, honestly, my dear, you are so impatient sometimes!"

Grovyle shook his head in morbid amusement, "This, coming from someone who recently complained about how 'dreary' and 'depressing' this world is?"

Celebi blushed, "Well, yes… but there still isn't reason to rush! And, honestly…" she trailed off and bit her lip. "Compared to a few 'days' ago… this place has become almost like a paradise…"

Grovyle was stunned. "A… a _paradise_? Celebi, how could that be?"

Celebi frowned. "I'm not sure how to explain it… it's just… when you and Laura left it was as if this world became even _more_ depressing than it already was. Like… like all the hope had vanished. What little light there was… it was as if it was further extinguished…" Celebi shivered at the memory. "But then… for no apparent reason… the light and hope just seemed to… come back."

"That's… odd," Grovyle said, unsure of how to respond.

"Grovyle…" Celebi hesitantly began. "I know we've discussed this before, but… are you _positive_ that you don't know the reasons for Dialga's actions regarding Laura?"

"…I already told you everything I know after that little 'episode' she had because of the… _incident_ when the Passage of Time was activated," Grovyle replied with a frown. "She didn't know the reasons either… but she always just assumed it was because of her status. Why do you ask?"

Celebi sighed. "It's nothing, really. I just find it a bit suspicious how things suddenly got a _lot_ better right after you returned here…"

"I haven't noticed anything different, but..." Grovyle trailed off and looked away sadly before continuing, "if you're implying that Laura had something to do with whatever happened, then I'm afraid that you're wrong. I came back here alone."

"Not entirely," Celebi corrected with a strange expression on her face, indicating towards Team Rainbow.

Grovyle glanced back. Paula looked like she was trying to converse with her friend, but the treecko was ignoring her. She looked very uneasy. Her eyes kept darting around, and she kept glancing back, as if she was looking for something…

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Celebi suddenly asked, startling Grovyle out of his thoughts.

"Pardon?" he asked, turning back to her.

"How similar she is to Laura," Celebi explained. "The only real difference that I can see—besides her appearance, obviously—is that she doesn't talk as much."

Grovyle snorted. "Actually, that's not true. Laura… like the treecko, she tended to stay quiet. The only reason she talked to you as much as she did is because you're a celebi, and, for some reason, she's obsessed with them…"

"Oh, you're so over-dramatic. She wasn't _that_ obsessed."

"I beg to differ! On our way to meet you, she was talking _endlessly_ about them, and about _that one_ in particular... Frankly, it was becoming disturbing..." Grovyle said, shuddering.

"_That one_?" Celebi asked. Then she seemed to remember something and smiled. "Oh, right! Tee hee! I remember now! The celebi from the Time Gear legend she told me about, right? The one with the golden—"

"Show yourself!" a voice suddenly demanded. Grovyle and Celebi turned in surprise to see the treecko, in a fighting stance, glaring at the frozen forest. Her partner was urgently trying to shush her.

The treecko wasn't having it. "I know you're there! Show yourself!" she demanded again.

"Oh my! What's the matter?" Celebi asked worriedly.

"I… I don't know! She just suddenly turned around and started yelling!" Paula said, tugging on her friend's arm.

"There's someone following us!" the treecko hissed, glancing back at the group and pointing at some foliage.

Grovyle frowned and cautiously approached the foliage in question. He carefully looked around. "I don't see anything," he said. "Are you _sure_ that you saw something?"

The treecko nodded fervently. "Yes," she insisted. "Out of the corner of my eye… I could see movement. And the shadows… they were _wrong_."

"Shadows?" Grovyle asked. Then he groaned, "Not _you_ too…"

Everyone looked at him in confusion, and then in surprise when he gently grasped the treecko's shoulders.

"Listen to me," he told her in a calm, assuring voice. "There's _nothing_ there."

"But… I s_aw_—!"

Grovyle shook his head and cut her off. "_No_. It's just paranoia. This dark world… it can play tricks on the mind. I'm impressed that you lasted as long as you did. But you don't have to worry—Celebi said that the Passage of Time is nearby. You'll be home soon, and then everything should feel fine."

"It doesn't have anything to do with the state of the world! I _know_ I saw something!" the treecko insisted, pushing him away.

Grovyle and Celebi shared a meaningful look, while Paula just gazed at her with worry. The treecko growled, angry that no one was taking her seriously, and turned around, stomping on ahead towards the Passage of Time.

Grovyle sighed. "Celebi… could you…?" he trailed off, indicating towards the treecko.

"Of course, my dear Grovyle," Celebi agreed, floating off to help protect and guide her.

As she approached, she could just barely hear her muttering, "I _know_ I saw something. I'm _not_ being paranoid."


	23. Chapter 23: A Rational Explanation

**Chapter 23:** **A Rational Explanation**

"Sigh…"

Celebi glanced to her left at the noise. The treecko she was floating next to looked a lot calmer now. The angry muttering had stopped the instant that Celebi was within earshot, and she had resorted to the silent treatment, glaring at the world around her in frustration. Now, she would still glance back occasionally and frown… but, mostly, she just seemed tired. Celebi looked at the bandages adorning her body and her brows creased in worry.

"Are you all right? Your injuries aren't hurting too much?" she asked.

The treecko glanced at her and shook her head. Then she sighed again. "I'm… sorry," she began, "for acting how I did earlier…"

Celebi blinked in surprise. "You don't have to apologize. I know how strange this world must seem to you… it's only natural that you would—"

"That's… that's the problem," the treecko interrupted. "This world… it _doesn't_ feel strange to me. It feels… familiar."

This statement caused the troupe to come to a screeching halt. Paula and Grovyle stared at her incredulously, but Celebi merely frowned.

"What do you mean?" Paula asked.

Her partner shuffled her feet. "It just… I feel like I did at Foggy Forest and the Northern Desert."

"Seriously?" Paula asked, making absolutely certain. Her friend nodded

"Hold on… what's this about Foggy Forest?" Grovyle asked.

The treecko glanced at him and bit her lip, debating something. Finally she asked, "You know how I told you about my amnesia?" Grovyle nodded (to Paula's surprise—she didn't think that her partner would've shared that info with him, especially after what happened with Dusknoir…), and she continued, "Well, when the guild went on an expedition there, the instant I stepped into the forest I got the sensation that I'd been there before…"

"And… that's what you feel here, in Dusk Forest?" Grovyle asked in clarification.

The treecko nodded. "I've felt it for a while now. Ever since I woke up in prison, actually…" she trailed off, frowning, before shaking her head and continuing, "but it's been the most noticeable here."

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything, though," Paula piped up. "I mean… we even asked Uxie about it when we made it to his lake, remember? He said that you'd never been there before."

"Hold on… You've been to _Fogbound_ Lake too?" Grovyle asked. When the two nodded Grovyle sighed, massaged his forehead, and muttered, "What exactly _is_ it about you two that makes our paths cross so many times…?" Then he blinked as something clicked within his mind. "_You're_ the ones Uxie was talking about!" he realized.

The members of Team Rainbow looked at each other in confusion before turning back to him. Paula opened her mouth to ask a question, but Grovyle intercepted with a wave of his claws, saying, "Never mind. It isn't important."

"How did you learn the secret?" Celebi suddenly asked. Everyone looked to her. "Remember, my dear Grovyle? You told me that the only reason you learned about how the Spirit Trio protected their Time Gears was because of… _you _know… so how did _you_ two find out?"

"Um…" Paula shuffled around, not really feeling comfortable with telling them about her friend's ability (once again, she had to thank Dusknoir's betrayal for that). The treecko, however merely frowned, thinking over Celebi's question. Her eyes widened as she realized something.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Grovyle, did you have help from someone other than Celebi before you came to the past?" she asked.

Grovyle's eyes widened in fear. "I… h-how did you…?" he stammered, suddenly feeling very worried for Laura's sake.

The treecko nodded in satisfaction, taking his fear and stammering as an admission. "Ever since Paula and I met you, I'd been thinking about why your voice sounded so familiar… now I know. It's the _same_ voice from the Dimensional Scream I had when I touched the Groudon statue!"

Grovyle's jaw dropped. "You… _you_ have the Dimensional Scream ability?" he demanded.

"Yeah, she does," Paula responded, shooting her friend a look that said that she did not agree with her friend's decision to just blurt out her secret like that. Her friend blushed, but Grovyle was too riled up to really notice.

"There's no way… that's… how is that _POSSIBLE_?" he practically exploded. Everyone jumped in fear at his tone of voice. He rounded on the treecko, "You… you _like_ Plain Seeds, you curl up when you sleep, you say the _exact _same things, you have _memory_ problems… _and_ you have the Dimensional Scream ability?! What _is_ it with you?! _Why_ are you so much like—?!"

"Grovyle! That's enough!" Celebi demanded. "You're scaring her!"

Grovyle instantly stopped his rant and looked at the treecko. She was wide-eyed and trembling, and had shrunk back to hide behind her friend.

"I…" Grovyle trailed off, looking extremely guilty. He tried again, "I… I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean to frighten you, I just…" he sighed.

The treecko took a deep breath and nodded, coming out from behind her partner. "It's…it's okay," she said. Then she glanced back and frowned again at the forest behind her. "We should… we should probably get going…"

Everyone nodded and began to travel again. Grovyle came up beside the treecko and matched her pace, cringing in shame when he noticed her tiny flinch of fear at his proximity. She probably thought he was going to start yelling at her again.

"Your… your vision at the Groudon statue… can you describe it for me?" he hesitantly asked.

The treecko glanced at him. "I couldn't see anything," she admitted, "but I heard someone shout, 'It's here!' a few times, and then you started to talk about the Drought Stone and said, 'Very well done! Good job, partner!'"

Grovyle nodded his head. "I see…"

"I don't know who you were talking to, though," the treecko added. "I could tell it was a female… but I still don't recognize the voice."

Grovyle gave a small smile of satisfaction at that—it meant that his partner's identity was still safe. _"Thank Arceus for small favors,"_ he thought.

"It's kind of odd that Dusknoir didn't mention her, though," Paula suddenly said from behind them.

"… She wasn't with me… when I was in the past," Grovyle, rather evasively, responded.

"Oh. Okay," Paula shrugged.

The treecko and Celebi frowned at him, but neither of them decided to comment on it, so Grovyle ignored them in favor of his own thoughts. _"Still… that's just one _more_ thing to add to the pile of suspicious similarities between this treecko and Laura… there has _got_ to be a rational explanation!"_


	24. Chapter 24: Giggling

**Chapter 24:** **Giggling**

"Hey, your name's Paula, right?"

Paula jolted in surprise when the pink pokémon swooped over to float beside her.

"Y-yeah… that's right," Paula said. "And you're… Celebi?"

Celebi beamed and giggled. "Tee hee! That's me!"

Paula glanced up ahead to where Grovyle was travelling. "Um… no offense, but why are you back here with me? You're Grovyle's friend, right? Shouldn't you be up there with _him_?"

Celebi waved a hand, as if to brush away the notion. "Oh, he's in one of his 'serious moods' at the moment. When he's like that, it's _impossible_ to get a decent conversation out of him."

Paula giggled and stole a glance at her partner, who was travelling beside Grovyle in silence. "I know what you mean," she said.

"Oh, your friend is like that too?" Celebi asked.

"Yeah. Most of the time when we're exploring dungeons she's stuck deep in thought," Paula explained.

"Oh… so this is normal for her?" Celebi asked, frowning in the treecko's direction. "I thought that she was just distracted by something…"

Paula shrugged. "Well… she _might_ be. We _have_ been through a lot recently. But don't worry," the pikachu assured, "she's still paying close attention to her surroundings."

"I'm not worried about that. She's up there with my dear Grovyle; he'll keep her safe," Celebi said, glowing with happiness.

Paula giggled. "For someone who 'doesn't have any special feelings for him,' you sure speak highly of him…"

Celebi blushed. "I only said that because it's the truth! He's really strong, and smart, and…!" she trailed off and blushed deeper. "…And I'm not doing a very good job of convincing you, am I?"

Paula merely giggled some more and shook her head. "Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" she asked.

Celebi sighed, and her wings seemed to droop in sadness. "It's not that easy," she admitted. "He's too focused on his mission. And even if he _weren't_… well, this dark world isn't exactly the best place for a romance…"

Paula frowned. "I've been meaning to ask you about that," she said. Celebi looked at her curiously, so she continued. "Well, you're the Time Travel pokémon, right? So if you hate it here so much… why don't you just travel to another time period and live _there_ instead?"

Celebi got a thoughtful look on her face. "There are a few reasons for that," she said. "It's true that celebi can travel through time, but that's just for short visits. After a while… it just feels too _unnatural_ to remain in a time period that isn't the one we were born in. That's why we always go back to our own time period when we decide to start families. If our children were born in a different period than us… well, let's just say that it would be uncomfortable for everyone involved."

"I guess that makes sense…" Paula said, nodding her head. "I take it that you were born into this dark world?"

"Unfortunately," Celebi sighed. "But even if that weren't the case, no matter how unnatural it would feel, I'd still be stuck here. Like I said, I need to use the Passage of Time for long trips. And this world has been paralyzed for a _looong _time."

Paula frowned. "But… why couldn't you just _use_ the Passage of Time to go back? You know… at least for a visit? I mean… that's what we're doing now, right?"

"Well, yes… but it wasn't available to me before."

Paula was surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Dialga is the Temporal pokémon. He kept close tabs on it; he would have known if I had used it for anything other than sending sableye out on his little 'flower gathering' excursions," Celebi explained.

"'F-_flower gathering_ excursions?'" Paula asked in surprise. "From the way Grovyle described him, he doesn't strike me as the type to enjoy flowers…"

Celebi giggled. "Oh, they weren't for him. They were presents for someone else."

"Wh-who would a pokémon like _Primal Dialga_ be getting presents for?" Paula demanded.

Celebi shrugged. "I'm not certain who they were for. Although I do have a strong theory…" she trailed off before muttering, "Especially since the _other_ things he had the sableye get were mainly art supplies…"

"What was that?" Paula asked, not having quite caught what she had mumbled.

"Oh, nothing," Celebi said with a wave of her hand. "Anyways, there's also the fact that he _broke_ it later."

"He… he _broke_ the Passage of Time?" Paula asked.

"Yep. He didn't want anyone to escape from him," Celebi explained.

"But… but if it was broken… then how did you use it to send Grovyle to the past?"

Celebi got an odd expression on her face and glanced towards Grovyle and the treecko. "…Someone fixed it for me," she said.

Paula also glanced in the direction that Celebi was looking, and her jaw dropped. "No way… you mean that _Grovyle_—?!"

"Oh! No! I didn't mean to imply _that_!" Celebi exclaimed, denying the assumption and blushing with embarrassment. "No, it wasn't Grovyle. It was someone else."

"Oh…" Paula sighed, feeling slightly relieved.

"No, there's no way that _Grovyle_ could do something like _that_," Celebi assured. "Sure, he's smart… but he's no expert when it comes to the intricacies of time and space. And everything he _does_ know, he learned from a little girl."

Paula giggled again. "A little girl? _Seriously_?" she asked. "That must have been a hit to his pride!"

"Oh, yes!" Celebi agreed, joining in the giggle-fest. "You can imagine his embarrassment when he had to depend on her to act as the emissary for negotiating with me about using the Passage of Time!"

The two continued to laugh for a while, until they were clasping their stomachs in pain and gasping for breath.

Celebi wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. "Oh, and speaking of girls," she began (after several attempts that had been thwarted by attacks of the chuckles), "I never caught your friend's name."

"Oh!" Paula exclaimed, wiping away her own tears. "It's L—"

"Excuse me, Celebi?" someone quietly interrupted. Paula and Celebi looked over to see that the treecko had slowed down to join them.

"Um… sorry to interrupt… but Grovyle said he needed to ask you something," she said.

"Ooh… hear that, Celebi? Your 'dear Grovyle' wants to _talk_ with you…" Paula teased, nudging her.

Celebi blushed. "I'd better go see what he wants…" she mumbled in embarrassment before quickly zipping off.

Paula giggled again, but her friend merely sighed and thought to herself, _"I'm beginning to see why Grovyle's so annoyed by the giggling…"_


	25. Chapter 25: Plans

**Chapter 25:** **Plans**

While the apprentices were out making preparations to search for Grovyle, the dastardly villain who was stealing the Time Gears, Wigglytuff and Chatot were discussing where to send them to search. The great Dusknoir had gone off to do some research, but once he returned he joined their discussion and offered his own suggestions.

"So you think that these three locations are the most likely to contain Time Gears?" Chatot asked in confirmation.

"Yes," Dusknoir replied with a nod of his head. "The Northern Desert is very wide and deep, and the nearly perpetual sandstorms often obscure the vision of those who traverse it, so it wouldn't be out of the question for a Time Gear to be there. It is even possible that one would be hidden in plain sight…"

"I see! Excellent deduction, Dusknoir, sir!" Chatot commended with pride. "What makes you suspect the other areas?"

"Crystal Cave is full of crystals. In my experience, crystals often house mysteries…" he frowned, seeming to become lost in a memory, before shaking his head. "I will admit that I do not have much evidence to back up my theory for why a Time Gear would be there, but…"

"Oh! No! It's quite all right!" Chatot assured. "The fact that you have even the slightest theory to begin with is a good reason to search there!"

"I thank you for your confidence," Dusknoir said. "You should be happy to know that for the third area, the Eastern Forest, I have a much more compelling reason for searching there."

"Oh oh?" Wigglytuff asked eagerly.

"The Eastern Forest… not only is it vast, like the Northern Desert, but it is also the setting for many legends. Including one that involved Time Gears…"

"Really?" Chatot asked with a frown. "I am the guild's head of intelligence, and yet I have heard no such legends…" he trailed off as he realized that Dusknoir could have taken that statement as an insult. "Oh! N-not that I doubt your word, sir! I just—"

Dusknoir cut him off with a chuckle. "It's quite all right," he assured. "The legends I'm talking about aren't very common—they are _human_ legends."

Chatot stared in shock, but Wigglytuff grinned and exclaimed, "Wow! You know human legends? That's so amazing! Where did you learn them?"

"I have met one or two humans in my travels," Dusknoir admitted. "They were very eager to tell me." He chuckled a bit and amended, "Well, I say _eager_, but I believe it was more along the lines of an _obsession_ with those tales. Honestly, for one who was normally quiet, it didn't take much prompting to get her to tell one. And once she got started, she could certainly go on for _ages_ about them…"

"Uh… sir?" Chatot asked, trying to prompt Dusknoir back to focusing on the present.

Dusknoir blinked. "Ah… right. I apologize for my loss of focus. Thank you for bringing me back to the matter at hand."

"Oh! It's no problem!" Chatot assured, beaming at the recognition. "So, it is agreed that we will send the apprentices off to search these locations, yes? Now all we have to decide is who will go where."

"Hm…" Wigglytuff said, contemplating. "I think it would be best to send everyone out to where they have a type advantage."

"Good idea, Guildmaster!" Chatot agreed. "We know that Team Rainbow will be going together, so we should begin with them. Let's see… Laura is a Grass-type, so she would fare the best in the Northern Desert and Crystal Cave. Paula, on the other hand, is an Electric-type. She would _not_ fare well in the Northern Desert, and she would have trouble in Crystal Cave as well… so I suppose that leaves us with having them explore the Eastern Forest. The inhabitants there should be varied enough in type that the two can cover each other's weaknesses."

Dusknoir frowned in thought. _"No… that won't do. I need to _ensure_ Laura's safety and, unfortunately, ignorance. It would be _disastrous_ to send her to the Eastern Forest. If she _did_ find something there, then it's almost _certain_ that it would act as a trigger. That place is too deeply ingrained in her mind. She's already picking up things subconsciously—like the way she continues to walk the way she did as a human. It's almost a given that she would recognize the place, or some aspect of it, at least, and do something rash… and if the sableye weren't done packing by the time she got there, or if Grovyle left a message there for her… it would not be good._

"_But it wouldn't be good to send her to Crystal Cave, either. I'm fairly certain that the crystals there are harmless, but on the off chance that there _are_ a few of _those_ there, then it's possible that it might trigger something, be it a memory or an episode. Either one would be disastrous at this point…_

_"It would look suspicious if I suggested that she remain behind, so I suppose that leaves no other option… the sandstorms might make it risky, but I could always give her some weather changing Orbs… and she is strong against most of those pokémon, so she should be able to make up for her partner's disadvantage… there's no other choice."_

"If I may interrupt," Dusknoir suddenly said, causing Chatot and Wigglytuff to pause in their discussion about whether it would be better to send Sunflora to the desert or the cave—she, being a Grass-type like Laura, would fare well in either—and turned towards him. "I think that it would be more advantageous for Team Rainbow to explore the Northern Desert."

"But, Dusknoir, sir, with Paula's type disadvantage…" Chatot trailed off, slightly surprised at Dusknoir's suggestion.

"Yes, I understand that, but I think it would be beneficial for her. Isn't the point of this guild to train her to become a better explorer? If she were to fight at a disadvantage, it would be good experience for her. And Laura could always cover for her if she ran into trouble."

"Wow! What a great idea!" Wigglytuff exclaimed.

"I concur, Dusknoir, sir!" Chatot agreed. "When I look at it _that _way, it's a marvelous idea!"

Dusknoir smiled, "Thank you," he replied. "Now, about the others…"

The three discussed things a while longer before they came up with the concrete plan: Loudred and Corphish would search the Eastern Forest. Bidoof, Sunflora, and Dugtrio would be sent to Crystal Cave. That left Team Rainbow, as previously agreed, to search the Northern Desert.

"Okay!" Wigglytuff exclaimed happily. "Now we just have to wait for our friendly-friends to come back so we can tell them our plans!"


	26. Chapter 26: Haven for the Hidden

**Chapter 26:** **Haven for the Hidden**

Grovyle was shivering. His skin felt… strange. It felt almost like it did when he was subjected to Flying-type attacks, except… it wasn't painful. It felt softer. Gentle, almost. But it was cold. What's more, he kept hearing a soft crashing noise… and his feet… it felt like someone was splashing water on them...

Grovyle blinked his eyes open. What was going on…? He sat up and looked down at his feet, noting that they were submerged in some sort of foamy water… but then, to his shock, the water… it _receded_! And then… it came forward again! Back and forth, back and forth... the water… it was in _motion_!

Grovyle felt himself beginning to grow warm. He looked up at the sky and gaped at the sight. The sky… it was changing colors! It was lightening from gray into this pinky-orange color that vaguely reminded him of Celebi… It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Grovyle could feel warm liquid running down his cheeks. He put a claw to his eye and realized that he was _crying_…

"A sunrise…" he murmured in awe. "Oh, Mom… Dad… are you happy…? Your son… he's finally seeing a sunrise…"

Grovyle flopped onto his back again. "Oh Laura… Celebi did it! We're… we're in the past!"

Grovyle waited for a response… but he heard nothing. Not even the slightest sigh of happiness or giggle at his antics. He frowned and sat up again, looking around.

"…Laura?" he asked. When she didn't respond and he didn't see any sign of her, he panicked. "Laura? Where are you?!"

He frantically stood up and scanned the area. "No… she's… she's not here!"

He began hyperventilating. "Okay, Grovyle, just… just calm down. What could have happened…? I was holding her hand when we entered the Passage of Time, so how did we end up separated…?"

Grovyle searched through his memories. He could vaguely recall hearing her terrified scream… and he remembered telling her to hold on… she screamed again, but then… he couldn't see or hear her anymore…

"It must have been the turbulence," he muttered. "I bet it knocked her off course…" He frowned. "Hopefully she didn't end up _too_ far away… I should start looking for her. But first I need to find out where _I_ am..."

Grovyle began to look around again. He appeared to be on a beach, if the sand beneath his feet and the rhythm of the moving water was any indication. He looked back and saw that a stone wall encased the area on three sides. He could also see tiny patches of green and white. He grinned and moved over to inspect them.

"_This must be what grass is _supposed_ to look like," _he thought as he inspected the leafy, green blades. He then moved over to the white patches. He smelled a sweet scent and saw that in the middle of each white thing there was a spot of yellow that looked powdery. He realized that he was looking at a cluster of flowers. _"And these flowers… I bet that Laura would love them…"_ He frowned and shook his head before starting to look for a way out of the enclosure that didn't involve going for a swim. He spotted a small cave off to the right, surrounded on both sides by enormous clusters of the white flowers, and went in.

Once he was inside, Grovyle realized that it wasn't a cave; it was a tunnel. It was lit with glowing crystals, and someone had decorated it with painted depictions of flowers and ivy. When he exited on the other side, he was shocked to find himself in a forest full of trees with healthy, green leaves. He looked back at the tunnel… and blinked when it was nowhere to be seen! He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but it was as if the tunnel had just _vanished_ from the face of the stone wall…

"_That's weird,"_ he thought. _"I _know_ that there was a tunnel there that led to a beach… so where is it now? It's almost as if it's trying to keep the beach hidden…"_

Grovyle blinked as something clicked in his mind. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "I remember Laura talking about this…"

* * *

_Grovyle glanced back to where his partner was following. She seemed to be doing okay at the moment, but Grovyle could see how her hair and clothing looked damp from sweat and was sticking to her body. He made an executive decision that they needed to take a breather._

"_Come on, Partner. Let's take a break," he said as he climbed up into one of the forest's trees so that he would be hidden from sight._

_Laura followed and settled herself on a sturdy branch with her back against the trunk and her legs swinging freely. Grovyle watched as she undid her hair ribbon and shook her hair out of her ponytail. He noted how much longer her hair had grown. She would probably need him to cut it soon… but he'd let it go a little longer before suggesting it. She always hated having to wear it short…_

_Aside from that, she seemed fine. She had a few bandages here and there, but it wasn't anything excessive. Plus, she just had this air of _contentment_ about her, and her beautiful eyes looked bright and happy…_

_Laura caught him smiling warmly at her and cocked her head in curiosity._

"_Your eyes are sparkling," he told her, causing her to blush. "I take it that you've finally gotten over your depression?"_

_Laura frowned in confusion._

_Grovyle explained, "Ever since he left, you've just seemed…"_

_Laura sighed. "I wasn't _depressed_," she insisted. "I was _disappointed_. I wanted him to stay with us and see the mission through to the end…"_

_Grovyle sighed as well. "I know… but you can't really blame him. Finding out that changing the past will cause everyone to disappear… well, it came as a shock to us all; even to _you_. It's perfectly reasonable that he didn't want to be directly responsible for causing it…"_

"_I'm surprised that you let him go without a fuss," Laura admitted._

_Grovyle shrugged. "I trust him. He's not as bad as I thought he was at first."_

_Laura blinked, and then a wide grin spread across her face. When Grovyle noticed it, he grew suspicious. "…What?" he asked._

_Laura seemed very smug as she answered, "So you _didn't_ hate him! You really _did_ consider him to be your friend!"_

_Grovyle blushed in embarrassment and looked away. "W-well…" he stammered, trying to think of an appropriate response. Not finding one that was satisfactory enough, he decided to change the subject. "S-So what are you so happy about, anyway?" he asked._

_Laura blinked and a blush crept onto her face as well. "Ah… B-because of where we are," she said shyly. Grovyle looked confused, so she elaborated, "This place… it has a few names, but to pokémon—in the past, at least—it's most commonly known as the Eastern Forest. It houses many of my people's legends…"_

"_Really?" Grovyle asked in curiosity._

_Laura nodded. "Yeah. Like the Time Gear legend; this forest was where they set up camp. And there are supposed to be lots of things hidden here…"_

_Grovyle honed in on the word "hidden," and immediately thought of the Time Gears. "What kinds of hidden things?" he asked._

"_Well, the campsite, for one," Laura replied. "And I heard that there was supposed to be a beach somewhere around here…"_

"_The legends don't tell you where?" Grovyle inquired._

_Laura frowned. "The beach… it's not actually part of a legend. I just overheard my… guardians talking about it once. But before they revealed the location—aside from it being in the Eastern Forest—they caught me listening in and they… well, let's just say that they were not pleased…"_

_Grovyle saw Laura shiver at a memory and decided not to press her further._

"_So this place is known as the Eastern Forest, huh?" Grovyle asked in an attempt to distract her. "Good to know."_

_He hopped out of the tree. "Come on, Partner. Let's see if we can find any of those 'hidden things' here…"_

* * *

Grovyle brought himself out of his memories. "So if I'm back in the Eastern Forest, then I guess my first stop should be _there_…" he mused as he started walking. "If Laura ended up anywhere near here, that's almost certainly the first place she'd go… and even if she didn't, I can still leave her a message. That place was very special to her… I'm sure she'd be drawn to it sooner or later."

As Grovyle travelled, he lapsed into silence. His continued to think, but all of his thoughts remained internal. _"Still… it's interesting how this forest is such a haven for the hidden…"_


	27. Chapter 27: Confidence

**Chapter 27: Confidence**

Paula sighed as she watched everyone eating dinner. Skuntank shot her a smug look and she barely suppressed a growl. It was so unfair! _He_ was the one who had caused Team Rainbow to fail, yet _she and Laura_ were the ones getting punished!

Paula glanced over at Laura, who was standing beside her, and frowned. Laura had been acting rather strangely ever since they had reported to Chatot… Her eyes were blank and she seemed to be in a sort of daze. Paula noticed how Laura had put a hand to her forehead and was frowning slightly.

"Is something wrong?" she whispered.

Laura blinked before turning to Paula and shaking her head. "…Headache," Laura explained.

Paula frowned in worry, but there was nothing that she could do about it.

* * *

"Ugh… my ears are still ringing!" Paula complained as she and Laura exited the Guildmaster's quarters after their meeting with Guildmaster Wigglytuff. "I can't believe that he freaked out so much over a Perfect Apple… I mean, I get that they're his favorite food, but it's not like _you_ cry when we run out of Plain Seeds!"

Her stomach growled and she moaned. "Oh… I'm so hungry that even disgusting _Plain Seeds_ are starting to sound appealing…" she shook her head. "Seriously, I don't know _why_ you like those things so much…"

When she didn't receive a response, Paula frowned and turned to her partner. Her eyes widened when she saw the state Laura was in. Laura's eyes… they were wide and seemed to be glazed over. She was hugging her arms close to her body, and she appeared to be trembling.

"Laura? Are you okay?" Paula asked.

The sound of her friend's voice seemed to snap her out of it, and Laura gave Paula a nod of assurance. Paula frowned again; she wasn't convinced, but since Laura didn't seem like she was going to explain her actions, she decided to just let it go for now. After all, it was natural that she would still seem a bit scared; that was the first time they had seen the easy-going Wigglytuff act like that.

Paula grabbed her friend's arm. "Come on," she said as she led Laura back to their room. "Let's go to bed…"

* * *

_She couldn't understand what was happening. What had she done…? Why was she being punished…?_

_She pulled her knees closer to her chest. It was so cold… and her stomach felt so hollow… when was the last time she had eaten? She couldn't remember…_

* * *

"We put in a good day's work today!" Paula grinned the next evening as she and Laura waited for dinner. Laura grinned back and nodded. Paula tilted her head. "You seem to be in a better mood now," she noted.

Laura blinked in surprise before tilting her head in confusion.

"You just seemed… _off _this morning," Paula explained. "When Chatot told us that disheartening news, your eyes just looked kind of blank."

Laura frowned. "…Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," Paula shrugged. "But maybe you were just tired still. Lack of food can do that to you."

Laura shrugged too, accepting the explanation.

"Hey, hey! Team Rainbow! Can you come over here for a second?" Corphish called from across the room.

"Sure! We're coming!" Paula called back as she and Laura headed over to him.

He was standing with Sunflora, Loudred, and Wigglytuff over by the Swap Shop, and he was holding two items in his claws: a Defense Scarf and a Pecha Scarf.

"What's up?" Paula asked.

"Sunflora and I are trying to settle something," he said. "Which Scarf do you think is better to take into a Mystery Dungeon? I say the Pecha Scarf, but Sunflora thinks it's the Defense Scarf."

"Oh yeah? What's your reasoning?" Paula asked.

"Well, hey, hey! If you went into a dungeon and got hit by an attack that has a chance of poisoning you, the Pecha Scarf would prevent the poison and you'd have more energy."

Paula nodded. "Okay, I can see that… what about you, Sunflora? Why would you choose the Defense Scarf?"

"Oh my gosh! It's so _obvious_!" she exclaimed. "Let's take Corphish's example: if you got hit with an attack that had the chance of poisoning you, it wouldn't _matter_ if you got poisoned because the Defense Scarf would boost your defenses enough during the attack itself that you wouldn't lose too much energy and you would _easily_ be able to handle any loss that the poisoning gave you!"

Paula nodded again. "I can see that too," she said. Then she frowned, "Hm… this is a tough one… what do _you_ think, Laura?"

She waited for a response… but none was forthcoming. Paula frowned and turned to her friend. "Laura? Did you hear me? I asked—" she cut herself off when she noticed Laura's state.

Laura was trembling again, and her eyes once more seemed blank. Paula noticed how she was giving a sidelong look to Wigglytuff.

"Laura? Are you okay?" Paula asked.

Everyone turned to Laura, and they shared Paula's surprise and worry upon seeing how she was acting.

"Friendly-friend?" Wigglytuff asked, stepping closer. "Are you—?"

He cut himself off in shock when Laura flinched at his proximity and began to tremble more violently.

"Laura?" he asked in distress.

The sound of his upset voice caused Laura to snap out of it. She blinked and looked around in confusion at all the stares she was receiving.

"…What?" she asked.

"Oh my gosh, Laura! Why did you do that?" Sunflora asked in concern.

"…Huh? Why did I do _what_?" she asked in confusion.

"Why did you just FLINCH at the Guildmaster?" Loudred demanded.

Laura blinked in shock. "I… I did _what_?" she asked, blushing in mortification. Then she turned to Wigglytuff. "I… I'm sorry! I... I don't know why I…!" she stammered an apology.

Wigglytuff opened his mouth to respond, but Chimecho's call to dinner interrupted him. The apprentices and Team Skull cheered and stampeded into the dining area. As Laura left, she frowned again in confusion before wincing and putting a hand to her temple. Wigglytuff remained outside, frowning in thought.

Chatot hopped over to him. "Guildmaster? Are you all right?" he asked. "Usually you're the first in line for dinner…"

"…Did something happen to Laura today?" Wigglytuff asked.

Chatot blinked. "Not that I'm aware of… why do you ask?"

"She was acting scared… and she flinched at my approach…" Wigglytuff explained.

"Squawk! She did _what_?!" Chatot demanded. "Why would she—oh." He blinked and cringed once he realized the problem. "Ah… last night… after the, erm, _incident_ with the Perfect Apples, I believe you might have frightened her…"

"Oh oh?" Wigglytuff asked. "She's upset about that? It's no problem! Everyone fails sometimes!"

Chatot turned around and rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, _"That may be true… but not everyone is subjected to your Rage attack when it happens…"_ He turned back to Wigglytuff and assured, "In any case, I'm sure it will have blown over by tomorrow."

* * *

_They were yelling again… they were always insulting and berating her… and she didn't know _why._ What's more, her pain had gotten worse… The red, sticky stuff was flowing from her body again. They had gotten _really_ mad at her and… she cringed, unable to complete the thought. Anyways… the red stuff used to scare her, but it hardly bothered her anymore. At least it was warm…_

* * *

Laura frowned the next morning and kneaded her forehead as she waited for the cheers to begin. She had another headache… She was beginning to think that it was from a lack of sleep; she kept having nightmares. But—strangely enough—she could never seem to remember what they were about…

Once the cheers ended, she and Paula were about to prepare to go out for their daily work when Chatot called, "Laura, wait a moment! I need a word with you…"

Laura and Paula shared a frown before Laura went back over to Chatot. She looked at him expectantly.

"I heard that you behaved oddly towards Guildmaster Wigglytuff last night," he informed her. Laura cringed and blushed in embarrassment.

"Y-yeah… I don't know _why_ I did that, but—"

Chatot cut her off with a shake of the head. "I understand that seeing his reaction to the lack of Perfect Apples was a frightening experience, but I _did_ warn you that he would be upset if you failed. Yes, perhaps he overreacted a bit… but you shouldn't let it interfere with your work or the way you treat him. Understand?"

Laura's eyes had become blank once more. "…Yes, sir," she said emotionlessly.

Chatot didn't seem to notice. "Good!" he said. "In that case, you are dismissed."

Laura nodded. "Thank you, sir," she said, once more without emotion, as she turned away and joined Paula.

Wiglytuff frowned as he watched her from where he was peeking out of his room…

* * *

_She had tripped, and the soapy water had sloshed out of her bucket and onto the floor. That was all that had happened. It was going to end up on the floor anyways, since she was about to wash it, as per their orders… so why did they start screaming at her for it…? Why were they overreacting so much…?_

* * *

"So you want us to do sentry duty today?" Paula asked Chatot in surprise the next morning.

Chatot sighed. "Yes. The Guildmaster insisted on it for some reason."

Paula shrugged. "Okay, then. Come on, Laura."

Laura looked back to Chatot in confusion once more before following her partner down to the sentry post.

It was a busy day; at least a dozen visitors had come to the guild, and Team Rainbow identified all of them correctly. Chatot was smiling when he gave them his report.

"You identified every visitor correctly! Good job, you two!" he praised.

Laura blinked and gave him a small grin.

"Wow!" a voice called, causing Laura to freeze. Her eyes went blank and she began to tremble as she looked over and saw Wigglytuff approach.

"You got a hundred percent! That's _amazing_!" Wigglytuff exclaimed. "You two are getting really good at this!"

Paula grinned, "Thanks, Guildmaster!" she said.

Laura blinked. Her eyes went back to normal before they widened in surprise at the praise and she gave him a big smile. "Thank you, Guildmaster!" she said.

* * *

_It was so dark, and she was so cold and scared… but then… there was a flash of light. Two purple things with shiny eyes entered the room. They led her towards something in the main room that was big and gray. It began to yell… but, to her surprise, it wasn't yelling at _her_. It was yelling at _them_! She was so shocked that someone was insulting _them_ and berating _them_ for once…_

_She heard a scream and, for a moment, her pain seemed to increase… but then it was quiet. The pain vanished as her body began to grow numb… The gray enveloped her, and she felt warm and… _safe_. The gray thing was cooing at her, and whispering sweet words and promises. She felt so nice and comfortable… and sleepy…_

_She began to drift off… and for the first time in a _long _while, she was happy…_

* * *

The next evening Wigglytuff sat in his room, a huge smile on his face. Laura had been back to normal that day; she was no longer acting scared around him or Chatot.

"_I was right!"_ he thought happily. _"She just needed a confidence boost!"_ He looked at the memo Chatot had given him earlier that held the names of those they had chosen to go on the expedition. He frowned at it before getting an idea and making a few additions to the list. _"I bet the expedition will be more fun if everyone goes… and I bet it will give Laura even _more_ confidence!"_


	28. Chapter 28: What Fathers are Like

**Chapter 28: What Fathers are Like**

"Now, remember: You will likely encounter multiple sandstorms during your exploration," Dusknoir told Laura and Paula. The two members of Team Rainbow had just been about to head out to search for a Time Gear in the Northern Desert when Dusknoir called them over to give them some last minute advice.

"The sandstorms will harm you," Dusknoir continued, "and they will obscure your vision, so if you find yourselves in a pinch it would be best to make it to the stairs as quickly as possible."

Paula nodded. "Got it," she assured. "But since we're supposed to be searching for something hidden, we probably don't want to hurry through the floors too often if we can avoid it… so should we go pick up some more Oran Berries?"

"That won't be necessary," Dusknoir said, pulling something out of his treasure bag. "Take these with you," he told them, offering some Orbs to Laura. "These are Sunny and Rainy Orbs—you can use them to change the weather into something less harmful."

"Wow! Thanks!" Paula exclaimed.

Laura had a look of surprise on her face, but she accepted the offering nonetheless. "…Thanks," she said, sounding slightly stunned.

Dusknoir smiled. "You're very welcome," he replied. "Now, another thing that you will have to worry about in the Northern Desert is the lack of food; the only available source is Grimy Food."

Both girls grimaced—they had watched Loudred eat some Grimy Food once on a dare from Croagunk and the results… had not been pretty.

Dusknoir chuckled at their expressions. "Yes," he agreed. "The effects can be very debilitating, so I would suggest that you only eat Grimy Food as a last resort, and, even then, only if you are next to the stairs, as any effects will wear off when you reach the next floor."

"Gotcha," Paula said, with Laura nodding her head in agreement.

"Good. Now, one last thing…" Dusknoir began, getting a serious expression on his face. "This dungeon leaves you at a disadvantage, Paula. Laura will likely be able to cover for you, but if you—and this goes for you as well, Laura—ever find yourself in real danger, then you need to _immediately_ abandon the mission and use an Escape Orb. Your safety and well-being is far more important than taking a risk because there's a _chance_ of finding a Time Gear."

Paula gulped. "R-right," she said.

"We'll be careful," Laura assured with a smile.

Dusknoir reciprocated with a fond smile of his own. "Good," he said. "I'll look forward to your safe return."

* * *

Later that night, as she and Laura waited for dinner, Paula glanced back to where Dusknoir was speaking with Chatot (it had been late by the time everyone had finally returned from their explorations, so Dusknoir had been invited to stay and eat with the guild) and sighed. "Since the great Dusknoir helped suggest the locations, I was sure that we'd find _something_," she gloomily told her partner.

Laura, who had been inspecting something on her arm, glanced over at her friend and shrugged.

Paula sighed again. "Yeah, yeah… well, at least we tried."

Laura smiled encouragingly before returning to inspecting her arm.

Paula frowned at her. "Laura, why are you doing that?" she asked.

"Why is Laura doing what?" a voice from behind her inquired. She turned in surprise to see that Dusknoir was heading towards them.

"Oh! Dusknoir, sir!" Paula exclaimed, causing Laura to look up again. Dusknoir looked at Paula and gestured for an explanation, so Paula obliged, "Laura keeps looking at the same spot on her arm, and I'm not sure why, so…"

Dusknoir frowned. "Laura is there a problem?" he asked.

Laura shook her head before glancing back down at her arm. Dusknoir raised a brow. "If that's the case, then why do you keep focusing intently on your arm like that?"

Laura sighed before admitting, "It just… sort of stings."

Dusknor frowned. "Did you injure it during your exploration?" he asked in concern.

"Um… I _think_ I may have nicked it on a rock when I was turning a corner on the fifth floor…" she admitted.

Dusknoir frowned again. "Let me take a look at it," he ordered. Laura frowned, but allowed him to inspect her arm.

"So? What's the verdict?" Paula asked curiously a few moments later.

"I believe some sand particles may be trapped in the wound," Dusknoir informed.

Laura blinked in surprise. "'_Wound_?'" she repeated. "It's just a tiny cut… I didn't even remember getting it until we got home…"

"All injuries, no matter how small they are, can cause problems," Dusknoir said, his face becoming haunted for some reason. "I once had a… a close friend. One day while we were out together, she got a scratch on her palm. It was very small, and she forgot all about it until… well, until it got infected. But that infection… it…" he trailed off, closing his eye in sadness.

Paula and Laura glanced at each other in surprise, but they quickly looked back to Dusknoir when he sighed a moment later and resumed inspecting Laura's arm. "In any case… I suggest that you go wash out this cut and then eat an Oran Berry to ensure that it heals," he told Laura. "And be sure tonight to eat something sweet, such as a Pecha Berry; the extra sugar will help supplement the natural sugars that your body, as you are a Grass-type pokémon, creates through photosynthesis for you to use as energy. Understand?"

Laura nodded, and that caused Dusknoir to smile warmly and—to her and Paula's surprise—place a hand on her head.

"Good girl," he said.

* * *

"Hey, does anyone know if the great Dusknoir has a family of his own?" Paula asked that night when the apprentices had assembled for their nightly meeting.

Dugtrio frowned. "I do not think he does," he said. "At least… I have not heard anything to that effect."

"Yup, yup; me neither," Bidoof agreed.

"Why do you ask?" Chimecho inquired.

Paula shrugged. "Oh, it's just that the way he was acting today reminded me of my dad."

"Oh my gosh! Really?" Sunflora asked. "How so?"

"Well, he was giving us lots of advice on how to stay safe during our exploration—even going so far as to give us useful items to take with us—and then the way he was treating Laura when he was looking over her 'injury'… well, it just reminded me of how fathers act towards their children."

"Ooh… I guess that's just one more thing that makes the great Dusknoir so amazing!" Chimecho exclaimed.

Croagunk snickered. "Meh heh heh… I'm surprised he doesn't have women swarming him everywhere he goes. After all, he's smart… he would, apparently, make a good father… according to Sunflora, he's 'handsome…'"

"Eek! Oh my gosh!" Sunflora exclaimed, blushing furiously. "Croagunk, how did you know I thought that? Did you… gasp! Did you read my diary?!" she demanded.

Croagunk just snickered again, indicating that yes, he had. That made Sunflora blush even harder and exclaim, "Oh my gosh! That's so mean! I hate you!"

Everyone laughed at her display, but Laura remained quiet. She was busy thinking over what Paula had said. _"Dusknoir acts like a father?"_ she wondered. _"I can't remember my parents, but… being kind and gentle… and caring about your children's health and safety… is that what fathers are like?"_


	29. Chapter 29: Nicknames

**Chapter 29: Nicknames**

Grovyle, Celebi, Dusknoir, and the sableye had _finally_ healed from their ordeal in the Icicle Forest and were in pursuit of Primal Dialga. Un and Cinq were leading them and, as usual, Un was complaining about everything.

"Ugh… Are we _there_ yet?" Un whined for the fourth time.

Cinq rolled his eyes. "No, Un. Wheh heh heh… And you should _know _that, seeing _you're_ the one who came with me when we went after Master Dialga _earlier_!"

"Wheh heh heh… Well it's not _my_ fault that this monotony is killing off all the brain cells that store my memories!" Un replied.

"Un, you _do_ realize that the sooner we get there, the sooner we'll have to face Master Dialga's wrath… right?" Cuatro asked.

"At least it would be more interesting than what we're _currently_ doing…" Un muttered.

Celebi giggled at the antics of the sableye group. She turned towards the sableye beside her and asked, "Hey, uh... it's Dos, right?"

The sableye jumped in surprise before nodding. "Y-yes, that's right, wheh heh heh… What do you need?"

"I was just thinking… Un sure complains a lot for a leader, doesn't he?"

Dos blinked in confusion. "Uh… wheh heh heh?"

"Celebi, Un isn't the leader of the sableye," Grovyle informed her.

"He isn't?" Celebi asked in surprise. "But… doesn't 'Un' mean 'One?' At least… that's what I _thought_ Laura said…"

Grovyle grinned. "Yes, that's true, but _Cinq_ is the leader. _Un_ is just second-in-command." He paused. "That being said, though, you're right. It _is_ kind of odd that he complains so much…"

"Wheh heh heh… Our order of seniority is Cinq, Un, Dos, Cuatro, me, and Trois," Seis piped up helpfully from behind.

Celebi frowned. "That's really confusing," she said. "Wouldn't it be easier for your titles to match your positions?"

"Those aren't their titles, Celebi," Dusknoir said. "Those are their _names_."

"Oh!" Celebi exclaimed, blushing in embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…"

"Wheh heh heh… It's fine," Seis assured.

Grovyle chuckled. "Don't worry, Celebi. I thought the same thing too when I first heard them."

"Still… it's quite the coincidence, isn't it? I mean… for all of you to be named after numbers when you aren't related to each other…" Celebi paused and blinked. "Er… You're _not_ all related to each other… are you?"

Seis snickered. "Trois and I are brothers, but no one else is related, wheh heh heh… I'm the elder brother, by the way."

Celebi frowned. "That's… that's even more confusing. Um… no offense to your parents, but wouldn't it have made more sense to name you in order? And to use numbers from the same language? And to not, you know… skip two numbers in between?"

"Wheh heh heh… Our parents didn't give us our names," Dos explained. "Miss Laura did."

Celebi and Grovyle's jaws dropped in shock before Grovyle gave an irritated growl. "Really, Laura? _Really_?!" he exclaimed in exasperation towards the aurora in the sky.

Dusknoir chuckled. "I'm guessing she never told you that?"

"No, she didn't," Grovyle huffed in annoyance, dropping his head into his claws. Then he sighed, closed his eyes, and began kneading his forehead. "I suppose this explains how she 'knew' Seis' and Trois' names before they had even introduced themselves…"

Celebi was still in shock. "Wha…? B-but… _Laura_ named you? The same Laura who travelled with my dear Grovyle… and… and got turned into a treecko, and… _that_ Laura?" she stammered.

"Wheh heh heh…" the sableye snickered, nodding in confirmation.

"So… so just wait a moment. You're telling me that _Laura_, that bright girl I met, named you after _numbers_? And not only that, she pulled the numbers from _two_ different languages and didn't even go in _order_?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Wheh heh heh… Pretty much," Cinq confirmed.

"I think she was trying to go for a theme…" Cuatro mused.

"_Why_ would she do that?" Celebi demanded, still unable to grasp the concept.

Grovyle sighed again before finally lifting his head from his claws. "Laura was… _quirky_, when it came to names," he offered. "I told you about that little 'team name' she came up with for us, right? And then there were the nicknames…" he trailed off, chuckling in amusement despite himself.

Celebi giggled. "Oh, yes, I remember you telling me about the team name… but, my dear, I'm afraid that you forgot to mention the nicknames…"

Grovyle gave a nostalgic smile before explaining, "She had a tendency to give nicknames that were shortened versions of a pokémon's _real_ name ending in an 'ee' sound. There were a few exceptions… but that was generally the case."

"Really? That's interesting," Celebi said, cocking her head in fascination. "Did she do that to you?"

Grovyle snapped out of his nostalgia. "Uh…" he said, blushing and looking away.

"Wheh heh heh… Yup," Un confirmed. "She called him 'Grovy' for '_years._'"

Everyone—including Dusknoir—laughed and Grovyle began blushing harder. "Sh-shut up!" he demanded in embarrassment.

"It was payback for calling her 'Partner' instead of 'Laura' all those times, wasn't it?" Celebi asked, unable to keep from egging him on.

"N-no…" Grovyle replied, blushing more. The laughter just increased, so he groaned, "Okay, fine. _Maybe_ that was _part _of it… but I'm pretty sure that it was _mostly_ because she was so young when we met. She grew out of it… eventually…"

Everyone continued to laugh for a while, but it soon mellowed out into the occasional chortle.

Grovyle sighed before a thought struck him and he frowned. "Actually, Dusknoir, I'm surprised she didn't do that with _you_."

Dusknoir and the sableye immediately stopped laughing. The sableye nervously watched Dusknoir as he stared at Grovyle, but Grovyle took no notice and continued his pondering. "I know how much trouble she used to have pronouncing your name, so I'm surprised she didn't just call you 'Dusky.'"

"She… ah… she _did_," Dusknoir admitted quietly.

"Really?" Grovyle asked in surprise. "I never heard her call you that…"

"She… she stopped right around the time she met you."

Grovyle blinked in confusion. "Why would she—" He cut himself off and his eyes widened when it clicked. He cringed. "Oh," he mumbled. "R-right…"

Celebi was still confused. She tapped her chin. "Let's see… when Laura and Grovyle met… that would have been right after she escaped from—" she, too, cut herself off and cringed when it came to her. "Ah… Y-yes, I can… I can see that…"

Dusknoir nodded his head and sighed despondently.

Everyone was silent as they continued along, and they kept sneaking glances at Dusknoir.

Grovyle bit his lip, contemplating the consequences of asking the question on his mind. He knew that asking it would likely hurt _both_ of them, but he was curious and decided to go for it anyways. "Um… Forgive me for asking this, but… what _exactly_ happened between you two? Was it just because of what… what happened with…" he faltered before steeling himself and finishing, "w-with my parents…?"

Dusknoir glanced sharply at him. That question made him feel as though Grovyle had stabbed him in the heart with all the memories it dredged up… but… just by looking at him, he could tell that the question caused Grovyle to feel just as much pain.

"No," he answered honestly. "As much as I would _love_ to blame it on your parents and their team… I highly doubt it was their fault. Yes, I believe they were what caused it to happen as _early_ as it did, but… well, once Laura had that Dimensional Scream, it was _bound _to happen sooner or later."

Grovyle and Celebi blinked in shock. "She had a _Dimensional Scream_ around you?" Grovyle demanded.

Dusknoir blinked in surprise. "She didn't tell you about that?" he asked. When Grovyle shook his head, Dusknoir frowned. "I suppose she must not have felt it important… or else she just didn't recognize its significance…" he mumbled. Then he shook his head and continued, "In any case, that was when Master Dialga's plan began to fall apart." He sighed, "Honestly, it wasn't a very airtight plan to begin with, especially considering what happened the _last_ time…" He shuddered and closed his eye in sadness before continuing, "It would have been _impossible_ to keep up as she got older. Then there's the fact that Laura is… well, _Laura_. With her heritage and personality… it was inevitable that she would eventually do something like this. The incident with your parents just… sped the process along."

Grovyle frowned. "Okay, that explains_ s__ome _things… but what happened _specifically _between you two?" he asked. "If it wasn't my parents, then what…?"

Dusknoir was silent for a long while before he finally answered, almost too quietly to hear, "I'm not certain… but I'm fairly sure that it had something to do with her recovering her memories of the event that brought her into my custody."

Grovyle saw Cinq and Un flinch, and he frowned in confusion. He opened his mouth to ask for an elaboration, but then he felt someone touch his arm. He looked down in surprise to see that it was Dos.

Dos shook his head. "Please, don't," he asked. "What happened… it was hard for all of us. But for Lord Dusknoir… I'm not sure he could bear it…"

Grovyle sighed. "…All right. Thank you for telling me as much as you did, Dusknoir."

Dusknoir merely nodded in acknowledgement.

An awkward, depressed silence permeated the air as the group continued their journey. Eventually Celebi couldn't stand it anymore, and she tried to break the tension.

"S-so Laura had a fondness for nicknames when she was younger?" Celebi asked. "Did she, um… did she ever give one to Dialga?"

Everyone immediately halted, looked at each other, and then began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Oh… oh my…" Cinq giggled, barely able to breathe.

"Wheh heh heh! Wheh heh heh!" Un cackled maniacally.

"Could you imagine the look on his face if she'd ever actually…?" Seis asked, his imagination running into overdrive.

"No way… not even _she_ would go that far!" Trois denied, trying to imagine the scene for himself.

"I bet if anyone could do it, it _would_ be her!" Dos chortled.

"How could you shorten _that_, though?" Cuatro asked with tears streaming from his eyes.

Celebi, who was giggling herself, answered. "Well, going by what Grovyle said… I suppose it would have been something like 'Dialgy.'"

That caused the sableye to laugh harder, and the laughter only increased when Grovyle, who was also chuckling, added, "Or 'Dii." That would have worked too."

"Actually," Dusknoir smirked, "it was 'Algy.'"

The sableye dropped to the ground, practically howling at the hilarity.

"No way!" Celebi squealed. "She really _did _give him a nickname?!"

Dusknoir nodded, giving a few chuckles of his own, and Grovyle doubled over with laughter.

Everyone was incapacitated like that for a few more moments until a strong gust of wind brought them (mostly) back to their senses.

"Come—snort!—come on, every—chuckle!—everyone," Dusknoir finally managed to say. "We need to—ha ha!—to hurry after M-Master Dialga."

"D-don't you mean M-Master '_Algy_?!'" the sableye couldn't help but ask, bursting into laughter again.

Everyone began to move once more. As Grovyle tried to reign in his laughter, he glanced at the aurora above him. It really was beautiful… it reminded him of the rainbows he had seen back in the past…

"_Oh, Laura…_" he thought as he smiled up at the sky. _"Thank you for that. Even though you're not here with us… you still managed to cheer everyone up. Really… calling Primal Dialga 'Algy…' That was brilliant!"_ Immediately after thinking that, Grovyle cringed and any leftover bits of laughter died in his throat. _"Yikes… _there's_ something I never thought I'd say about one of your nicknames…"_


	30. Chapter 30: The Debt May Never Be Repaid

**Chapter 30: The Debt May Never Be Repaid**

"_THIS CANNOT HAPPEN…!"_ Primal Dialga denied frantically in his mind as he hurried onward. He tried once more to teleport, but, just like when he had made the attempt in the Icicle Forest, he didn't get very far. He was in too much pain and his emotions were raging too wildly for him to muster up the proper concentration.

He was so furious at so many pokémon that he was having trouble keeping straight what each had done to enrage him so.

First was Dusknoir. How _dare_ he betray him like that? After all that work and sacrifice… and now he was just _giving up_? He had thought that Dusknoir truly _cared_ about her and her well-being, but he was wrong. That, or else Dusknoir really _didn't_ know her as well as he claimed… either way seemed inexcusable.

As for the sableye… he hadn't even wanted them around to begin with. He had only let Dusknoir keep them on as lackeys at her insistence. Yes, they _had_ proven to be semi-useful… but as they had decided to follow Dusknoir on the path of betrayal, any and all merit they may have had went straight down the drain.

With Celebi… he had known she would be trouble. He had wanted to simply eradicate the Time Travel pokémon altogether when he first discovered her, but, as with the sableye, he could not deny _her_ pleas. That was why he had simply taken away her means of time travel to the far past. Of course, that plan had fallen through…

Then there was Grovyle. His entire _existence_ was an affront to Primal Dialga. Had Grovyle never been born, then his parents wouldn't have felt the need to form that little "team" of theirs to try to change things so that their son would have a "better future." And if they had never formed that team, then they never would have exposed the secret that he had so desperately tried to keep from her…!

Mostly, though, the sense of loathing and fury was directed inwards, towards himself. He knew this whole fiasco was his own fault. Had he never given Dusknoir that order… had he just left well enough_ alone_… he could have prevented this from happening in the first place...

He wasn't upset because time was "restarting." No, if all that was at stake was his position as the world's "ruler," then he would have been content to just let nature take its course. He had regained enough reason to remember how time was _supposed_ to flow, and how the world was truly meant to be.

He glared upwards and took in the sight of the lovely aurora above him. _That_ was the problem. Unlike Celebi and those non-legendaries whom he had left in the Icicle Forest, _he_ could recognize the aurora for what it really was. He could feel the thrum of energy hiding behind its brilliant colors… and he knew _exactly_ what it meant for the one who was causing it…

"_WHY_?!" he bellowed at the sky, where the aurora was gently pulsating. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"

"_Because…"_

With each pulse of the aurora, Primal Dialga could almost hear a whispered reply…

"_I can fix it…"_

"_I _have_ to…"_

"_I can make things better…"_

"_It's _my_ responsibility…"_

"_NO IT'S NOT_!" Dialga screamed at the heavens. "IT NEVER _HAS_ BEEN!"

But in his heart, he knew that arguing would do no good. He had known the power's wielder for far too long. That stubborn insistence to shoulder responsibility for all that was wrong with the world… well, he knew that it wouldn't go away anytime soon. The only thing that he could do to prevent the outcome that he was _certain_ would arise from the current situation would be to go back in time _himself_ and…

Primal Dialga growled as the wind picked up and the aurora seemed to shine more brilliantly, as if it knew what he was planning and was speeding up the process so that he'd be too late to interfere. He knew that he wouldn't be able to completely prevent it, but hopefully he would be able to lessen its effects…

He roared in anguish at his memories. All that confusion… and the _guilt_… he didn't understand it. Every single time it happened, the world's debt grew bigger. Yet every time its inhabitants tried to explain the concept, they were met with the stubborn insistence that, no, it was the opposite—that the debt was owed to _them_!

What was worse, the sacrifice grew greater each time…

"_I… what happened?"_

"_How… how did I get here?"_

"_ I don't... I don't know who you are..."_

"_I'm sorry…"_

He roared once more in rage. He would not—_could not_—let that happen again! He looked deep within himself and let his instincts lead him towards the Vast Ice Mountain Pinnacle… to the closest Passage of Time. He needed to hurry and stop this before it was too late. He knew _exactly_ what was hoped to be accomplished this time… and he knew that the amount of power needed… it would entail _far_ more than a mere sacrifice of _memories_…

Primal Dialga panicked when he saw the tiny ball of light emanate from his body, and he immediately picked up speed. At the rate things were going, he might already be too late to prevent…!

He shook his head. No. He couldn't think that.

"_FOCUS!"_ he commanded himself. _"YOU NEED TO HURRY… YOU NEED TO STOP THIS! IF YOU DON'T… THEN THE DEBT MAY _NEVER_ BE REPAID…!"_


	31. Chapter 31: Mind Over Matter

**Chapter 31: Mind Over Matter**

Grovyle watched the retreating forms of Cinq and Un as they headed off in pursuit of Primal Dialga. Then his back arched in pain and he groaned as sparks danced across his body.

"My dear Grovyle, are you all right?" Celebi asked as Cuatro sat her down next to him.

"I'm… f-fine…" Grovyle gasped, wincing in pain. When Celebi merely took in his trembling form and frowned, Grovyle gave a weak chuckle. "That… didn't convince you… at all… did it?" he asked.

Celebi shook her head, grimacing a bit as Cuatro began to clean her wounds.

"Does that really… pant… pant… surprise you, Grovyle?" a voice laden with pain asked. With a lot of effort, Grovyle managed to turn his head to see that Dos, Seis, and Trois were leading Dusknoir over to join him and Celebi. "After all… that tactic never worked... for Laura, so why… pant… would it work for you?" Dusknoir continued as the sableye helped him to sit down.

"I… thought as much," Grovyle admitted, grinning. "But it was... worth a shot." Then he groaned again and clenched his eyes in pain as a particularly strong series of shocks racked his body.

Dos, who had just leaned over him to begin treating his injuries, immediately leapt back to avoid getting hit by the electrical discharge. He looked nervously to Dusknoir for orders.

Dusknoir frowned. "It appears… that we will have to wait until the sparking ceases… before Dos can treat you."

"Y-yeah…" Grovyle panted. "That's... p-probably a good idea."

Celebi looked into Grovyle's pain-filled eyes and frowned. "But you're in so much pain…" She turned to Dusknoir and asked, "Isn't there anything I… _we_ can do to help?"

"Talk to him," Dusknoir replied.

Celebi blinked. "Just… _talk_?" she repeated in surprise. "That's it?"

Dusknoir nodded. "Yes. Talking… provides a distraction. If he's busy focusing… on your words, then he won't… focus on the pain," he explained. "It would be better… for him to do the talking himself, but…" he glanced at Grovyle, "I doubt he's in the mood for telling stories."

Grovyle gave another weak chuckle at this, but Celebi just looked confused. Grovyle noticed her expression and explained, "Whenever… Laura was injured… the best way to… to distract her was to… get her to tell one of her people's legends."

"It was one of the few subjects she would… willingly talk about... for extended periods of time," Dusknoir added at seeing Celebi's surprised look.

"Oh…" Celebi said. "I can see that. She seemed very devoted to them…"

Grovyle nodded. "Yeah, she—gah!" He clenched his teeth in pain as tremors once more racked his body.

Celebi frantically tried to think of a conversation topic. "Um… um… oh! I know! Isn't the aurora pretty?" she asked, pointing up at the sky. "It sort of reminds me of Laura… what do you think?"

Once the electricity had mostly subsided again, Grovyle nodded. "You're… referring to her eyes, right?" he panted.

"Well, yes, but it's more than that," Celebi said. "I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but… it just… it _feels_ like her. I mean… it seems gentle and kind… but it's also energetic. And… well, it's ushering in a new world, just like she always wanted."

Grovyle opened his mouth to respond, but he cut off in surprise when he heard laughter. He was shocked (both literally and figuratively) when he realized that it was coming from Dusknoir.

"What's… what's so funny?" he asked.

"She was right," Dusknoir replied, looking up at the sky with a bittersweet smile.

"…'She?'" Grovyle asked.

"Ah… My friend," Dusknoir explained, turning towards him. "She told me that she was certain that the next girl would save us from this dark future… and she was right. Laura… she saved us."

Grovyle was surprised. "The next…? Wait. Laura… she wasn't the first girl who Dialga…?"

Dusknoir shook his head. "No, she was not. Before her… there was one other."

Celebi frowned. "One other…?" she muttered. Then she blinked as it hit her. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "You're talking about the woman with the red hair, right?"

Dusknoir nodded, seeming slightly surprised that she knew that, and Grovyle stared at her. "Wha…? Celebi, you… knew this other girl? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well… I wouldn't say I _knew_ her exactly," Celebi said. "It's just… when Dialga was about to eradicate me, I remember this strange—well, strange at the time, at least, since I'd never seen a human before—creature with long, red fur on its head leaping in front of me and preventing him from delivering the finishing blow." She blushed. "And I didn't tell you because… w-well I was barely conscious at the time, and since she wasn't around when I woke up and Dusknoir didn't mention her when he was explaining the conditions for my continued existence… I hadn't been sure whether she was merely a figure of my imagination…"

Dusknoir chuckled. "She was real. It's just that Master Dialga was very protective of her. He didn't want her to interact with 'outsiders' any more than was strictly necessary."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…! Just… just wait a minute!" Grovyle demanded. "You're… you're telling me that this woman just… _jumped_ in front of Dialga when he was about to attack? And then he actually _stopped attacking_?" he asked incredulously.

Dusknoir grinned at his expression. "Indeed," he confirmed.

"But… why would he do that?" Grovyle asked, still feeling stunned.

Dusknoir shrugged. "She asked him to." He and the sableye laughed outright at Grovyle's expression of disbelief and Dusknoir commented, "Yes, I felt the same way when the incident occurred, even despite having seen her do something similar before."

"…What?"

"Wheh heh heh… Un told me that she was the one who got us our jobs," Trois explained.

Grovyle turned his incredulous gaze towards him at that statement before returning it to Dusknoir when he further explained, "There was little that Master Dialga would not do for her. And the way that she spoke to him… he would not have tolerated it from anyone else." He paused and frowned before amending, "Well… except for Laura, I suppose."

Grovyle's head was spinning. He was finding it hard to comprehend the information he was receiving.

"So… what happened to her?" Celebi asked.

Dusknoir's smile vanished and he bowed his head in sadness. "She… she died."

Celebi also looked away. "…Oh. How did she…?"

Dusknoir was too depressed to answer, so Cuatro did it instead. "Wheh heh heh… An injury of hers got infected," he explained, also sounding sad. "She fell ill, and she… she wasn't able to pull through…"

"…I'm so sorry," Celebi whispered.

"Master Dialga… was not happy," Dusknoir sighed. "His rage… well the most accurate comparison would be that his actions _now_ were very similar to his actions _then_…" He grimaced briefly in remembrance before sighing once more. "But he had us making preparations for Laura's arrival fairly quickly afterwards." He frowned before muttering, "Although… strangely enough, he did not begin his search for several… I suppose you would call them 'months'…"

"That _is_ odd," Grovyle mumbled in agreement before commenting, in a louder tone, "I'm surprised that Laura never told me any of this."

Dusknoir glanced away. "Ah… I never shared this with her."

Grovyle was surprised. "You didn't? Why not?"

"There were a few reasons," Dusknoir admitted. "First off… well, my friend hadn't been… 'gone' for _too_ long before Laura arrived. It just… it felt too soon to talk about it. And then with Laura being so young… I thought it might confuse her."

Grovyle and Celebi nodded; they could understand that. However, Dusknoir was not finished. "The main reason, though, was that Master Dialga forbade it."

Grovyle was stunned. "But… why would he do that?" he asked. "If they were as close as you described, then you would think he…"

"I'm not so sure, my dear Grovyle," Celebi piped up. "If they _were_ that close, then for a pokémon like Primal Dialga… well, it may have been less painful for him to just pretend that she never existed in the first place."

"But… you'd think he'd at least want _s__ome_ sort of memento…"

"I believe he kept some of her paintings," Dusknoir offered.

Grovyle blinked. "_She_ liked to paint too?" he asked.

"Indeed," Dusknoir said, a faint smile finally returning to his face. "She and Laura… I believe that if they had known each other, they would have gotten along well together. They seemed to have a lot in common…"

With that, the group became silent. Celebi looked around, taking in the changing scenery, before her eyes landed on Grovyle and she noticed that something was different about him… Once she realized what it was, she exclaimed, "Oh! My dear! The sparking… it's stopped!"

Grovyle blinked and looked down in surprise to find that she was right. "When did that happen…?" he muttered.

"In any case… Dos, you can administer treatment now," Dusknoir said.

"Wheh heh heh! Yes, Master Dusknoir!" Dos agreed as he began to look over Grovyle's injuries.

"Wow! Simply talking… I can't believe that worked!"Celebi said happily.

"Of course," Dusknoir said with a small grin. "It's a simple case of mind over matter."


	32. Chapter 32: Paintbrush Friend

**Chapter 32: Paintbrush Friend**

"Wheh heh heh… Why do _I _have to do this?" Dos whined.

Since Dusknoir had taken many of the supplies with him in anticipation of a tough battle with Grovyle at Crystal Lake, the sableye minions he left behind were running low. They could do without some of the specific types of berries, but they were down to their last Max Elixir. If they didn't get more soon, they would be vulnerable to attack. Luckily for them, their camp was now by Treasure Town—the home of the main branch of the Kecleon Market.

Which was why Dos had just received, and was complaining about, the treasure bag and a shopping list from Un, with an order to go into town and buy the listed supplies.

"Wheh heh heh… _Because_, Dos, you have the best stealth out of all of us!" Un responded. "Lord Dusknoir told us to avoid attracting attention… so you're the only one who can do it!"

Dos shuffled his feet. "W-well…" he stammered.

"Great!" Un exclaimed, clapping him on the back. "We'll see you when you've gotten the supplies!"

Dos reluctantly headed off towards Treasure Town, and Un turned back towards the camp.

"Oh! Un!" he heard someone call. He looked to see Cinq, with Seis in tow, heading towards him. "Wheh heh heh… Can I have the supply list? I'm going to send Seis into town with it."

"There's no need for that, wheh heh heh…" Un said with a smug grin. "I already sent Dos."

"You did _what_?!" Cinq demanded, sounding horrified. "Why would you send _Dos_?!"

Un was surprised and confused by his leader's tone. "W-well… Lord Dusknoir told us to be careful… and Dos the best at stealth, so…"

"Idiot!" Cinq exclaimed, slapping Un upside the head. "Have you forgotten _when_ we are? Shopping _here_ is nothing like 'shopping' in the _future_! Wheh heh heh… Shopping here involves _talking_ to others!"

Un was momentarily confused about why that was a problem, but when it dawned on him the color drained from his face and he whipped around to stare in the direction Dos had left.

"Uh… oops?" he said, cringing.

Cinq groaned and dropped his face into his hands.

"Um… pardon me, but, wheh heh heh… why is it so bad that Dos will have to talk to others?" Seis asked.

Cinq sighed and dragged his hand down his face. "You and your brother haven't been around long enough to really notice, but, wheh heh heh… Dos has an intense fear of public situations. Even something as simple as being left alone with _one_ stranger leaves him… er, w-well…"

Seis frowned. "Why is that a problem? I get nervous around strangers too, wheh heh heh… You'd be hard pressed to find someone _not_ like that in the dark world."

Un snorted, "Wheh heh heh…'Nervous' is an understatement."

Seis frowned, so Cinq explained, "Seis, even when _you're_ nervous, you're still the most phenomenal actor in our group. You can get strangers to believe a_nything_. You could easily do this job without drawing major attention to yourself. But with Dos and his social phobia…" he paused to sigh before continuing, "Wheh heh heh… well, let's put it this way: Best case scenario is that we'll have to go out looking for him in a few hours because the moment he catches sight of someone from the town he'll freak out, flee the scene, and get lost."

"And, uh… worst case scenario…?" Seis was almost afraid to ask.

"Wheh heh heh…He'll go into a paranoia-induced, berserker type rage and slaughter the town's inhabitants," Un replied.

Seis' face drained rapidly of color.

"Wheh heh heh… Exactly," Cinq said, catching Seis' expression. "So, unless another Miss Laura-type miracle happens, let's hope it's the first option."

Seis blinked. "Uh… a 'Miss Laura-type miracle?'" he asked.

Cinq and Un shared a grin before Un explained, "You see…"

* * *

"_Wheh heh heh?! You need me to _WHAT_?!" the sableye demanded._

"_Shush! Not so loud!" his leader, with a claw to his lips, commanded. "You'll wake Miss Laura!"_

_The sableye immediately slapped his hands over his mouth and glanced into the room behind his leader. He could just make out the tiny, bandaged form of the human girl in question as she slept under the thick covers of her bed. She unconsciously frowned at the loud noise, and then made her form even tinier by curling up tighter into a ball. He was rather surprised that she had managed that, actually, given how tightly she had _already_ been curled up…_

"_S-Sorry," he whispered. "B-but can you repeat what you just said you needed me to do…?"_

"_I need you to guard Miss Laura for a while."_

"_B-but…" he stammered. "W-why _me_?"_

_His leader sighed and began to tick the reasons off on his claws. "Master Dusknoir is busy making medicine, Master Dialga ordered the other two sableye to visit that shiny celebi so that she could send them back in time to gather more flowers, and unless _you_ want to talk that herd of miltanks into giving us their milk…"_

_The sableye gulped and glanced back at the sleeping child. He quickly did the calculation: One tiny, weak human versus a whole herd of miltanks…?_

"_Wheh heh heh… Okay. I'll… I'll guard Miss Laura," he said, feeling resigned._

_His leader gave him an encouraging smile. "Good," he said. "And don't worry about it so much; she's still recovering, so she'll probably stay asleep the whole time," he assured. "And even if she _does_ wake up, she's not nearly as social as um… you know… _her_, s-so…" he trailed off, frowning._

_The sableye still wasn't convinced, so his leader sighed and added, "Wheh heh heh… Really, she can't hurt you. Remember: _she's_ on _that_ side of the bars, and _you're _on _this_ side."_

_The sableye gulped. "R-Right…"_

* * *

Dos nervously took two steps towards the town… but then he immediately retreated back to the bell. Honestly, what was wrong with him? This wasn't the future; the residents here wouldn't attack him merely for existing. Of course, that could change if they ever found out the reason that he was _really_ here…

Dos gulped and shook his head. No. He couldn't think of that. This was hard enough as it was. He didn't need to add even _more _pressure…

He heard a voice approaching from the direction of the Wigglytuff Guild, so he immediately ducked behind the bushes in fear. As he watched, two Pokémon—a pikachu and a treecko (although the treecko was walking rather oddly…) made their way down the stairs and stopped in the middle of the road. He seemed to be hearing the tail end of the conversation.

"…you sure?" the pikachu, who had her ribs wrapped up in bandages, was asking her friend. "If you're not ready for this, we can go back…"

The treecko was in bad shape. She had bruises and bandages everywhere, and her arm was in a splint. She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

The pikachu sighed. "Yeah, yeah," she replied, obviously having been able to understand her friend's non-verbal response. "I know, I _know_. It's _just_ a walk. But seriously… you nearly _died_, and then with what happened after the meeting… I just don't want your stubbornness to interfere with your recovery, Laura."

Dos jolted. _"L-Laura? D-Did she just say _Laura_?" _he thought incredulously. _"Master Dusknoir _said_ that she had transformed into a treecko, but… could that _really be_ Miss Laura?"_

He leaned out to get a better look… and ended up falling out of the bushes and flat on his face.

"Ow…" he groaned as he sat up and rubbed his forehead.

"Are you all right?" he heard someone ask.

"I'm fi—" he began automatically before he froze in horror at the realization that a _stranger_had spoken to him. He slowly lifted his head to see that the pikachu and the treecko—Laura—were looking at him in concern.

"Uh… sir?" the pikachu asked, worried at his abrupt cut-off.

Dos gulped. "I'm f-fine…" he stuttered as he slowly stood up.

"That's good," the pikachu said with a smile. "I haven't seen you around here before. What brings you to Treasure Town?"

"Uh… um…" Dos stammered, beginning to hyperventilate.

The pikachu frowned at him before noticing a white piece of paper on the ground in front of him. Thinking that the sableye must have dropped it when he fell, she picked it up to return it to him and immediately recognized it as a shopping list.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Were you going to Kecleon Market?" When Dos hesitantly nodded, she asked, "Want us to show you the way?"

"Um… O-okay…" Dos mumbled, shuffling his feet.

"Great! Follow me!" the pikachu said, turning towards the town.

"My name's Paula, by the way, and this is my partner, Laura. We're Team Rainbow!"

"H-hi…" Dos said, trembling.

"What's _your_ name?" Paula asked.

"D-Dos…" he replied, mentally slapping himself immediately afterwards for not coming up with a lie.

"Dos, huh?" Paula asked. "That's an interesting name!"

"Uh… Thanks…?" he replied.

He glanced over towards Laura. She smiled, and he felt himself relax a tiny fraction.

* * *

_He heard a shuffling noise. He looked down the corridor, but didn't see anything. Then he glanced back to make sure that whatever it had been hadn't awoken his charge… only to jolt in panic when he noticed that her bed was empty. He frantically scanned the room for her and barely suppressed a scream when he felt something touch his foot. He looked down and saw… a paintbrush. He cocked his head in bewilderment before realization dawned on him. He took a closer look at the room and relaxed once he found Laura… only to tense up in nervousness once more when he saw how close she had moved to the bars without him noticing._

_But… she wasn't paying any attention to him. She was too busy painting. Her head was bowed in concentration and her brown tresses were falling over her shoulders. He could still see her beautiful eyes, though; her hair was tied back, preventing it from obscuring her face. The white bows were rather crooked… but Dusknoir had been favoring function over fashion when he had tied the ribbons; it was far easier to change the bandages around Laura's head and wash the fevered sweat from her face when her hair wasn't in the way. In any case, she didn't seem to mind how lopsided the bows were. Actually, she seemed to really like them. But maybe it wasn't so much the _bows_ as the fact that someone had cared enough about her to take the time necessary for an attempt to "style" her hair._

_He was rather surprised to see that she was lying on her stomach and kicking her bare feet (well, bare except for the bandages…) in the air. From the accounts he'd heard and what he remembered seeing for himself, the front of her body was where most of her more serious injuries were located. But she didn't seem to be in pain—more than the usual amount, anyways—so he wasn't too worried._

_He looked down at the paintbrush again and surmised that the girl must have accidentally nudged it with her elbow or something, which caused it to roll under the bars. He used his foot to push it back to her. When she felt it hit her arm, she momentarily stopped painting and glanced at it._

_He went back to watching the hallway._

* * *

"…and ten Escape Orbs. Is that everything?" the green kecleon asked as he prepared Dos' order. Dos nodded shyly.

"Good!" the green kecleon said with a grin. "Your total is 4,500 poké."

As Dos made his purchase, the green kecleon turned to Paula and asked, "Is there anything I can get for _you_?"

Paula shook her head and answered in the negative, "No. Thanks for asking, but we were just going for a walk when we met Dos. Since this is his first time in Treasure Town, we thought we'd help him out so that he wouldn't get lost."

"That was kind of you," the purple kecleon said. "But… a walk, you say? Are you sure that you're up to it, Laura?"

Laura scowled and turned away.

Paula rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her," she said, apologizing on her friend's behalf. "She's just grumpy because she's been confined to her bed for the past few days."

The purple kecleon chuckled. "That's perfectly understandable," he said.

Paula giggled. "Yeah… but we should get going now. If we're not back soon, Chatot will throw a fit."

"Of course, of course," the green kecleon said, nodding his head. "I'm glad that you're both feeling better!"

Laura sighed before turning back towards him and giving a small smile of gratitude. Then she caught Dos looking at her and cocked her head. He blushed and looked away, causing her to frown in confusion.

* * *

_He felt something touch his foot again… and looked down to once more see a paintbrush. It was probably the same one as before. He looked over at Laura to see if he could figure out why she kept knocking it over to his side… only to jolt in shock when he realized that she was even _closer_ to the bars. What was more, now her jars of paint and her stack of papers were _also_ on his side. Well… halfway, at least. He rolled his eyes and nudged everything back towards her, being careful not to spill any of the paint. This time, though, when he returned the paintbrush, she looked up from her artwork and frowned at him._

* * *

"Are you sure that you don't want any help carrying that?" Paula asked with concern as she watched Dos make his way back towards the crossroads. He appeared to be struggling under the weight of all the supplies.

"Wheh heh heh… Y-yes… I'm fine," Dos assured rather nervously.

Paula frowned. "Well, okay," she said. "Just be careful that you don't trip and—"

Of _course_ the instant she said that Dos tripped and fell flat on his face, his supplies flying everywhere.

"Oh!" Paula exclaimed. "Here, let me help you!"

"N-no! That's… that's okay! You don't have to!" Dos assured, feeling slightly fearful as her attempts to help brought her closer to his proximity.

"Don't be silly!" Paula said as she continued to help. "Of _course_ I—no, Laura! Don't strain yourself!" she said, abruptly addressing her friend when she noticed that she had bent over to help.

Laura scowled again and turned her back on Paula in annoyance… only to notice something on the ground a little ways away. Feeling curious, she went over to see what it was.

It didn't take long to get all the supplies together again. "Phew… Okay, that's everything," Paula said.

"…Th-thank you," Dos mumbled.

"No problem!" Paula assured, beaming at him.

Dos turned to leave… but froze when he felt something touch his arm. His breathing picked up and he turned around… to see that Laura had placed her fisted hand on his shoulder.

"Uh… um… C-can I help you…?" he stammered nervously.

Laura nodded and uncurled her fist… and Dos was shocked to see that a paintbrush was lying on her palm.

* * *

_Once more he felt something touch his foot. His eye began to twitch in annoyance. Really? Did she _really_ lose her paintbrush _again_? He sighed in exasperation before looking down, expecting to see the same paintbrush as before… only to jolt in shock when he saw that, instead, it was the girl's _hand_ that was touching his foot. He glanced at her face and saw that she was looking at him expectantly._

"_Uh… um…" he stammered, feeling slightly fearful and not knowing what she wanted from him._

_When she saw that she had his attention, Laura grabbed the spare paintbrush that he had twice returned to her and held it out, as if she were offering it to him._

"_You… you want me to take it?" he asked hesitantly. When she nodded, he slowly took the paintbrush from her._

_Immediately after he gained possession of it, she smiled and shoved some paint and paper over to his side of the bars. He frowned at it before looking back to her and seeing her once more expectant expression. He became confused. He looked several times from her to the supplies before it clicked and he asked, "You… you want me to _paint_?"_

_She nodded enthusiastically, and his eyes widened in surprise. "B-but I can't do _that_!" he exclaimed. "I'm supposed to be _guarding_ you! A-and…"_

_He trailed off when he noticed her downcast expression. He sighed. "W-well… maybe one or two pictures wouldn't hurt…" he finally agreed._

_She smiled widely again and returned to her own paintings, causing the sableye to give a small grin of his own as he sat down and contemplated what to paint. There were so many colors of paint to choose from… He glanced at his companion to see if she could give him some inspiration… and he caught sight of her eyes once more. Suddenly an idea came to him, and he smiled and dipped his paintbrush into the cup of yellow paint…_

* * *

Dos stared at the paintbrush in her hand. "That's my… my paintbrush…"

"…I think it fell out of your bag," Laura said.

"Thanks…" he replied as he took it back from her.

She smiled at him.

Dos opened his mouth to say something else… only to be interrupted by a relieved sounding voice. "Squawk! _There_ you are!"

Paula, Laura, and Dos turned in surprise to see a chatot coming towards them from the guild.

"I gave you permission to go on a _short_ walk, Laura! It's been nearly an _hour_…" he said in a reprimanding tone. Then his voice softened as he asked, "Are you all right? You aren't feeling too weak…?"

Laura blushed. "I'm fine, Chatot," she assured.

"Sorry," her partner apologized. "We were helping Dos."

Chatot glanced at the sableye in question (causing him to freeze in fear), and said, "I see." Then he turned to Laura. "In any case, you need to come back inside now. It's time for your medicine," he told her.

Laura groaned and her face took on a look of disgust. Dos couldn't help but chuckle, and she glared crossly at him.

"Sorry," he apologized. "It's just… you remind me of my friend, wheh heh heh…"

Laura cocked her head, and Dos said, "It was nice to meet you," mentally adding, _"again."_

Laura smiled. "You too… Dos," she replied.

Dos grinned back.

* * *

"_Finished!" he exclaimed happily, turning the picture towards Laura so that she could see it. "It's you."_

_Laura cocked her head at him before examining his work. Well… she could _sort of_ see the resemblance… maybe…_

"_Wheh heh heh… It uh… I know it's not the _best_ rendition," he said, "but…"_

_He trailed off when he heard her giggle, and he jolted in surprise when she spoke to him for the first time in his memory. "I like it," she assured him._

_The sableye grinned and opened his mouth to thank her, but he was cut off when he heard someone say, "Well _this_ is an interesting surprise."_

_The human and sableye both turned in the direction of the voice, and Laura's eyes brightened with happiness while the sableye's expression became horrified when they both recognized who it belonged to._

"_Dusky!"_

"_L-Lord Dusknoir!"_

_Dusknoir looked at the sableye's portrait and raised his brow, silently demanding an explanation._

"_Uh… w-well…" the sableye stammered nervously._

"_I asked him to paint with me," Laura answered for him. She smiled when he shot her a grateful look._

"_I see…" Dusknoir said. "But why were _you_ painting? You were _supposed_ to be taking a nap…"_

_Laura blushed and looked down, mumbling some unintelligible excuse._

_Dusknoir merely shook his head in amusement and gestured for the sableye to unlock the door to her room, which he hastily did. "In any case… it's time for your medicine." He chuckled at her disgusted expression. "I know it doesn't taste good, but it's a better alternative to getting sick again, isn't it?" he tried to reason with her. "After all, you've only _just _gotten over your fever…"_

_Laura shook her head. "Two days," she said._

_Dusknoir frowned. "Pardon me?"_

"_It's been two days," Laura insisted. "I _checked_."_

_Dusknoir frowned in confusion again, and she pointed to the gear-shaped pendant tied around her wrist._

"_Ah… Of course," Dusknoir said, still not quite understanding what she was talking about, but deciding that it would be better to just humor her. "But you still have to take this medicine."_

_Dusknoir handed her the cup, and even the sableye couldn't help but chuckle at her adorable pout._

"_Now, now Laura… it's not so bad," Dusknoir coaxed. "Once you've finished it and I've changed your bandages, we're going to visit Master Dialga."_

_Laura's eyes widened in delight and Dusknoir jolted when she brought the cup to her lips and began to chug the contents._

"_Not so fast!" he reprimanded. "You'll choke!" _

_Laura finished the medicine in record time, and she had a disgusted grimace on her face when she pulled the cup away from her mouth._

_The sableye laughed, and she turned to scowl at him._

_Dusknoir rolled his eye in exasperation. "Just put away the painting things and get me a bowl of water," he ordered his lackey as he began to set out his medical supplies._

_The sableye nodded and did as ordered, beginning with the paintbrushes. But just when he was about to put up the brush he had used, Laura interrupted him._

"_Not _that _one, Dos!" she exclaimed._

_Dusknoir and the sableye paused and looked at her in surprise. "D-Dos?" the sableye repeated. "Who's… who's 'Dos?'"_

"_You, silly!" Laura replied with a giggle, as if the answer was obvious._

_Dusknoir and the newly named 'Dos' shared a glance before Dusknoir slowly asked, "Where did you come up with that name, Laura?"_

"'_Dos' means 'two' in Spanish," she happily explained. "And look," she said, holding up the picture she had painted. "Now there are _two_ of you!"_

_Dos looked at the painting and gasped; it was a portrait of _him_. But _this_ portrait, unlike _his_ sorry attempt at painting _her_, was very lifelike. It was as if she had captured his very essence on the page…_

"_I see," Dusknoir said, smiling fondly at her. "And why is it that you don't want… Dos, to put away the brush? You can always get it back out to use again after we return from visiting Master Dialga…"_

_Laura shook her head. "Nuh uh," she said. "'Cuz that's _Dos'_ paintbrush! If he gives it back… he won't be able to paint with me again!"_

* * *

As Dos headed back to camp, he smiled and fingered the paintbrush in his hand, thinking of all the fond memories associated with it.

"Wheh heh heh! Dos is back!"

"Thank Arceus!" he heard familiar voices say, bringing him out of his nostalgia. He glanced up to see his comrades rushing towards him.

"Are you all right?" Cinq demanded.

"Wheh heh heh… Did you kill anyone?" Cuatro asked.

Dos, who had just been about to answer Cinq, stopped short at Cuatro's question.

"Uh… what?" he asked, staring at his friend incredulously.

Un smacked Cuatro upside the head before turning to the confused Dos and explaining, "We've seen you do some, er… _extreme_ things when faced with your social phobia, wheh heh heh... Remember that time with the flock of pidgeys…?"

Dos cringed at the recollection. "R-right…" He shook his head. "But it was fine. Nothing happened."

"Wheh heh heh... _Nothing _happened? Really?" Cinq asked, feeling both pleasantly surprised and awed.

"Yeah," Dos answered. "Team Rainbow helped me find the market, and then Paula did all the talking, so…"

"Wheh heh heh?! Team Rainbow?!" Trois demanded. "Isn't that Miss Laura's team? So… so you saw Miss Laura?"

Dos nodded, his mouth curving into a smile.

"So, wheh heh heh… what was she like? Was she doing okay?" Cinq asked in concern.

"Yes," Dos replied. "She's still injured from Crystal Lake, but she's doing fine. And…" he gripped his paintbrush tighter, "even though she _looks _different, she's still the same girl, wheh heh heh…"

The sableye all began to babble and ask questions, but Dos tuned them out in favor of his own thoughts. _"Yes,"_ he decided as he put away the paintbrush that Laura had given him. _"Laura… after everything that's happened, you're _still_ my paintbrush friend…"_


	33. Chapter 33: Diaries Aren't For Everyone

**Chapter 33: Diaries Aren't For Everyone**

Laura yawned. The guild had _just _returned from their expedition, and she was very tired. She was also slightly irritated, as Paula had abandoned her shortly after their arrival home, meaning that Laura had to unpack the treasure bag all by herself. Normally she wouldn't really mind this chore, as it was often fun to sort through the new treasures Team Rainbow had picked up while exploring, but since the treasures this time were these weird boxes which she couldn't _open_…

If Laura was being honest with herself, it wasn't really the boxes' fault. It was just her frustration over her amnesia. She had been _so_ _sure_ that Uxie would have all the answers… but then to be told that a human had never been to Fogbound Lake before…

"Okay, Laura! I'm back!" Paula said as she walked through the door. Laura immediately perked up and turned towards her, tilting her head in curiosity when she noticed that her friend was carrying a stack of papers and a charcoal "pencil" in her paws.

"Sorry I left you to do the unpacking on your own… but I had an idea that could help with your amnesia," she explained. When Laura's eyes widened in disbelief, Paula grinned and explained, "Well… you know how Bidoof told us that he was using his diary to 'keep track of what he's made of?' I thought that if _you_ started keeping a diary, maybe you'd be able to remember things. Like, if you wrote down when things started to seem familiar—you know, what triggered them, where you were, etc.—maybe you'd start to see a pattern!"

When Laura still looked dubious, Paula sighed. "C'mon… just try it?" she asked, holding out the pencil and papers.

Laura sighed. "…Fine," she agreed as she took the items from Paula. "But only if _you_ finish unpacking."

"Fair enough," Paula shrugged before she settled into her task. Laura also settled down and began to write.

Just about the time Paula was finished unpacking, Chimecho gave the call for dinner. Afterwards the apprentices headed off for their usual mini-meeting in Loudred, Corphish, and Bidoof's room. Well, most of them, anyways…

* * *

"I AGREE with you!" Loudred told Corphish, nodding his head. "My favorite part was DEFINITELY seeing the Time Gear!"

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Sunflora concurred. "It was just so pretty! And so mysterious…"

Bidoof nodded. "Yup, yup. I can't disagree with that. But… I think _my_ favorite part was arriving at base camp."

"Even though you guys were LATE?" Loudred asked with a snicker, jabbing Paula in the side.

Paula rolled her eyes.

Croagunk chuckled. "Meh heh heh… Speaking of late… Laura is running rather late tonight, isn't she?" he asked.

"Oh… She decided to opt out of the meeting today," Paula said.

"Really?" Chimecho asked.

"Yeah. She said she was feeling tired, so she's probably asleep. Or else she's working on her diary…"

"Oh? Laura has a diary too?" Croagunk asked, a mischievous smirk growing on his face.

Paula, not noticing the smirk, answered, "Well… sort of. I mean, she just started it a few hours ago, so…"

"I see. How… interesting… meh heh heh…" Croagunk commented, an idea beginning to form in his mind….

Chimecho looked at him with a disapproving frown, but he didn't seem to notice.

* * *

The next day proved to be too busy to act on his plans, what with the arrival of the great Dusknoir and all the maintenance work he had to do on his Swap Cauldron, but the day after that found Croagunk heading towards the beach with the three diaries that he had "borrowed" from his fellow guild members.

"_Meh heh heh… that was just too easy,"_ he thought to himself as he settled down to read. _"Now then… let's start with Sunflora…_"

He set Bidoof's and Laura's diaries down on the sand, opened Sunflora's up to the most recent entry, and began reading: _"…Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! The famous Dusknoir came to our guild! Yippee! And…and…and…! He plans to stay in Treasure Town for a while! Yippee! I got to talk to him! He's wise! And courteous! And handsome! And…"_

When he turned the page to continue reading, Croagunk froze. A small note had been stuck to the next page, written in handwriting that definitely did _not_ belong to Sunflora. It read:_ "Croagunk… it isn't nice to invade others' privacy by reading their diaries. I know how tempting it can be, so I'll cover for you this time. But if you do it again… I'll be very disappointed in you. –Chimecho."_

Croagunk sighed and closed the diary. He shook his head, picked up Bidoof's and Laura's diaries from the sand, and trudged back home.

But what he didn't realize was that, as her pages had no bindings, he had only picked up about _half_ of Laura's diary…

* * *

"Phew… We put in a good day's work!" Paula exclaimed as she set the treasure bag down next to her bed. "Can you believe that we managed to get through that Monster House without letting the doduo we were escorting get a _single_ scratch?"

Laura grinned and reached for her diary. She paused briefly in confusion; she could have _sworn _that she had left it face-up last time, instead of face-down… But then she shrugged and flipped through the pages, intending to pen down this latest triumph. She frowned when she reached the last page. She looked to the ground in confusion before looking back to the final page once more and beginning to search the room.

"What's the matter?" Paula asked.

"Half of my diary is missing," Laura explained.

"Huh?" Paula asked in confusion. "But… what could have happened to it?"

"I don't know," Laura admitted. But then she felt a slight breeze come in through the open window. "Maybe… maybe it blew outside?" she guessed.

"Ooh…" Paula said, wincing. "Well if that's the case, then hopefully you didn't write anything too embarrassing in it."

"…Why?" Laura asked.

Paula shrugged, "Well… if it blew outside, then _anyone_ could just pick it up and read it."

"…This isn't good," Laura stated, a horrified realization dawning on her.

"Oh… So you _did_ put something embarrassing in it?" Paula asked, preparing to play the part of the sympathetic friend.

Laura shook her head. "No," she said in a voice filled with deadly seriousness. "But I _did_ write stuff about the expedition. Stuff like _where to find the Time Gear!_"

Paula's jaw dropped in horror.

"Exactly!" Laura exclaimed before she stood up, grabbing her friend's arm. "So come help me look for it!"

* * *

Dusknoir frowned as he studied the papers he had found on the beach. The handwriting… it looked so much like _hers_. But at the same time… it was so _different_. It was too… _small_. He could almost compare it to the labels she had made on her paintings when she was younger… but that still wasn't quite right. The difference was too subtle to pinpoint… but it was enough that he knew that Laura couldn't _possibly _have written them.

However, that still begged the question of how the _true_ author had known about this…

He headed to Wigglytuff's Guild; they were the center of information for Treasure Town (unless you counted those gossipy kecleon who ran the market), so surely the Guildmaster or head of intelligence would be able to explain it to him. It was rather late, though, so he was unsure of whether the guild was still accepting visitors or if he would have to wait until tomorrow for his answers. Just as he was about to head up the steps, however, he heard something that made him pause.

"Come on… come on, where are they…?" he heard someone mumble rather desperately from his right. He looked over to see a treecko crawling around beneath the wooden shelter above the Watering Hole. She seemed vaguely familiar…

Then it clicked. He had seen her yesterday when he had visited the guild! "Hello!" he called out, pleased by this lucky break. "If I am correct… you are from Wigglytuff's Guild, yes?"

The treecko jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice and hit her head on the wooden shelter. Dusknoir winced in sympathy. "Ah… My apologies for startling you."

"No… Th-that's okay," the treecko managed to say through a groan of pain as she turned around to assure whoever it was that she was all right. "I'm fi—" she cut herself off and stared in surprise when she realized who it was that had spoken. But she soon shook off the surprise and assured, "I'm fine," as she crawled out from underneath the shelter and dusted off her legs.

"Good. That is very… fortunate," Dusknoir said.

The treecko nodded, blushing in slight embarrassment.

There was a momentary, awkward pause before Dusknoir cleared his throat. "Yes, well… I was wondering if you could tell me whether the guild was still open to visitors?"

The treecko shook her head. "Sorry, it's not. We usually eat dinner soon, so…"

"Ah… I had been afraid of that," Dusknoir said with a frown.

The treecko bit her lip. "Um… Was there something that you needed from us?"

"Oh, it's nothing urgent," Dusknoir assured nonchalantly. "I was just wondering if your guildmaster would be able to explain something for me. You see, I found _these_ on the beach earlier," he explained, showing her the papers, "and as this is not the most common of—"

He was cut off when the treecko gasped and exclaimed, "My diary!"

Dusknoir froze. "P-pardon?" he asked in shock. "This… this is _your…_ diary?"

The treecko nodded happily. "Yes… well, half of it. Paula and I have been looking for it everywhere! I never would've guessed that the wind could blow it _that_ far from our room…"

"I… I see," Dusknoir said, still sounding slightly surprised. "Well… in that case, I suppose I should give it back..."

"Thank you," the treecko said gratefully as she took the papers from him. But then she paused and frowned. "You didn't, um… you didn't read it… did you?"

"No," Dusknoir assured with a faint chuckle. "In fact, I doubt that there are many who _could _read that. I may have a little knowledge on the subject… but it isn't nearly enough for me to be able to decipher _that_ language."

The treecko sighed in relief before she paused. Something about that last statement struck her as odd… "_'That'_ language?" she repeated in confusion.

"Yes, that's right," Dusknoir said, perplexed by her tone of voice.

"This… you can't read this? At all?"

"I could perhaps make out a word or two, but not the majority, no."

"But… that's… this isn't written in the pokémon language?" the treecko asked, sounding almost desperate.

Dusknoir frowned, this time in worry over the treecko's mental state. "I can assure you that the language you wrote in is not remotely affiliated with the written language of pokémon. The language on those papers is a _human_ one."

The treecko jolted in shock. "A human one?" she repeated.

Dusknoir nodded before adding, "But even for a human language… it is still rare to find texts that feature it. It is very ancient—so ancient, in fact, that I am only aware of one culture that still practices it…" Dusknoir was struck with a sudden burst of inspiration and he eagerly asked, "Tell me… where did you learn this language?"

The treecko shook her head, looking rather lost. "I… I don't know," she admitted. "I just… when I wrote this diary, this was the language that came naturally…"

Dusknoir frowned in disappointment and suspicion. "I see… well, in any case, I am glad that I found it. You seemed very worried over the fact that you had lost it…"

The treecko gave him a weak smile. "Yes… but it looks like I worried for nothing." She sighed before saying, "Even so… thank you, again, for finding this."

"Oh… It was no problem. I'm glad I could help," Dusknoir said, sounding rather distracted…

"It was nice to see you again, sir," the treecko said as she turned and began to walk towards town, likely intending to find her friend and tell her that she could call off the search. But she had barely taken five steps when she heard Dusknoir gasp and she turned back around, worry displayed on her features.

"The way you walk…" Dusknoir murmured, causing the treecko to sigh again.

"I know… it's not 'normal.' But—as with the language—this is what comes naturally for me," she explained, trying earnestly to hide her frustration.

"I see…" Dusknoir said, stroking his chin contemplatively. "It's very… intriguing."

The treecko frowned, and Dusknoir chuckled. "Don't worry. Intriguing is… good. I would love to get to know you more… perhaps I will see you in town sometime?"

The treecko looked momentarily unsure, but then she smiled. "Yes. That would be… nice."

With that the two went their separate ways.

* * *

"Wow! I can't believe that you met the great Dusknoir! And that _he's_ the one who found your diary!" Paula exclaimed as she and Laura sat in their room after dinner. Since Paula had noticed how distracted Laura was when she had come to find her in the town, she had suggested that they opt out of the apprentices' meeting in order to talk in private.

Laura nodded. "Yeah, but… I don't know. What he said about the language…"

"Yeah… it's a bit strange," Paula agreed. "But still… we're one step closer to finding out your identity! According to Dusknoir this language is only used by one human culture… so if we can figure out which one, then I bet that we'll be able to find out about your past!"

Laura nodded… but she didn't seem very enthusiastic.

Paula frowned. "What? Don't you… don't you _want_ to know?" she asked.

Laura sighed. "It's not that, it's just…this whole thing with the diary…"

Paula sighed. "Laura, if it bothers you this much, then why don't you just, you know… stop writing it? I know I was the one who suggested it in the first place, but…"

Laura grinned. "Thanks, Paula. And it _was_ a good idea. I mean, it _did_ help me regain a piece of my past. It's just that…"

"Yeah," Paula agreed with a nod of her head. "Diaries aren't for everyone."


	34. Chapter 34: Flowery Friend

**Chapter 34: Flowery Friend**

"Does everyone have everything?" Dusknoir asked his minions as they waited in a line in one of the meeting rooms of Temporal Tower.

"Wheh heh heh! Yes Master Dusknoir!" the sableye responded.

"Are you _positive_?" Dusknoir asked. "If you forget something, we will not be able to come back to retrieve it; it takes a large amount of power for Master Dialga to open up a dimensional hole to the past, and currently he only has enough stored for three."

The sableye took a moment to confirm that, yes, they _had_ packed everything necessary. Upon seeing this, Dusknoir nodded and ordered, "Then come; Master Dialga is waiting."

As the sableye followed him up to the pinnacle, they chatted among themselves. Their overall mood was a toss-up between fear and excitement. After all, this would be the first time that Dos, Trois, and Seis would see an un-paralyzed world.

"Wheh heh heh… so what's it like?" Trois asked.

"It's… indescribable," Cuatro replied. "There's so much color… and the _wind_…!"

"Wind?" Seis questioned, tilting his head.

"Yeah! It's like… well, you'll just have to wait and see for yourself. As I said, it's indescribable. Wheh heh heh…"

"Um… Wh-what are the pokémon like?" Dos asked nervously.

"Friendly… for the most part," Cinq answered.

"F-for the _most_ part?" Dos repeated, gulping in fear.

Cinq nodded. "Yes. The ones inhabiting the Mystery Dungeons will often attack you, but they're still mostly sane. But you have to be careful; some pokémon can get very… possessive."

"Oh?" Dos asked. Then he remembered something and exclaimed, "Oh! You mean like the ones involved in the 'flower incident?'"

Cinq cringed and nodded.

"Wheh heh heh…The 'flower incident?'" Trois asked.

Un snickered. "Yeah! See, one time when Master Dialga sent Cinq and Cuatro over to Celebi so that they could get Miss Laura some flowers from the past, when they returned, Cinq had—"

"Sh!" Cinq ordered, cringing in embarrassment. "We've reached the pinnacle!"

That shut the sableye up, and they nervously followed Dusknoir into Primal Dialga's lair.

"Master Dialga… we are prepared to begin the mission," Dusknoir said respectfully.

Dialga's red eyes glowed softly in the darkness and he growled. It would have been incoherent to normal pokémon, but translating was no problem for those like Dusknoir, Laura, and the sableye, who had been around him long enough. Dusknoir easily understood him and replied, "I understand. Retrieving Laura will be our first priority."

Dialga narrowed his eyes before giving a roar that opened up a dimensional hole in front of Dusknoir. Everyone trooped through, remaining silent… at least until they were caught up by the vortex of time and space and most of them—and even the seasoned veterans—gave exclamations of shock and terror.

* * *

_Dos poked his head around the corner. Laura—who was now completely healed—was sitting on the ground, surrounded by a mess of papers and odd, folded shapes (he thought he remembered her calling them "origami" when she had showed him some earlier…). She was bent over something, concentrating intently. Primal Dialga was lying near her, watching her with interest, and Dusknoir was standing respectfully off to the side._

_Dos gulped. He understood _why _he had been the one chosen to get Dusknoir's help; out of all the sableye, he was the one with the closest relationship to Laura, so that would hopefully be enough to save his life if he accidentally incurred Dialga's rage. Of course, that was assuming that Dialga didn't snap out of jealousy… But back to the main point, even though he understood why he had been the one chosen, it didn't make him any happier that he was stuck with the task._

_Dos steeled his courage and was just about to attempt to get Dusknoir's attention when Laura suddenly exclaimed, "Finished!" and held something out for Primal Dialga to inspect. Dos squinted his eyes to try and see what it was, and he realized that it was another origami figure. It looked vaguely like a Flying-type pokémon… _

"_It's a crane," Laure explained as Dialga examined it. He cocked his head in curiosity and growled out a question. It was still unintelligible to Dos, but Laura seemed to understand it and she answered, "I saw one in one of Miss... in _a_ book, but I've never seen a _real _one. It's an animal from the human world." Dialga growled out another question, and Laura nodded. "Mm-hm," she hummed, playing with the figure's wings. "It's one of the flying birds."_

_Dialga studied it some more before growling out an order to Dusknoir, who jolted slightly from being pulled out of his own concentration on the figurine before saying, "Yes, Master Dialga."_

_Dusknoir lifted a hand and sent out ghostly energy. It encased Laura's crane, and she gasped in amazement and delight when he used it to make the crane fly around the pinnacle. As it flew past the doorway Dos jolted in surprise, causing Laura to notice him._

"_Dos!" she called out in delight._

_Dos froze when all eyes turned to him and the crane dropped to the ground. Primal Dialga glared at him, angry for the interruption._

_Dos gulped, but he timidly shuffled forward a few steps and managed to stammer, "H-hello M-Miss Laura, M-Master Dialga, L-Lord Dusknoir."_

_Dusknoir glanced at Primal Dialga before hesitantly nodding back his greeting, giving his lackey a worried look, and Dos cringed when Dialga's scowl deepened._

_Laura, however, felt no such tension and giggled. "Silly. You don't hafta call me 'Miss.'"_

_Dialga growled, and Dos didn't need a translator to understand that he was saying something along the lines of, "He most certainly _does_ if he values his life!"_

_Laura turned to Dialga in surprise, and he growled an answer to the question etched on her face. She frowned. "But _you're_ on a higher 'tier' than _me_, and you told _me_ not to call _you _'Master!'"_

_Dialga growled again, and her frown deepened. "Is it 'cuz of my Mistress?" she asked in response to whatever the explanation had been. When Dialga shook his head, she became confused and asked, "Then how's it different?"_

_Dialga paused and glanced away before growling out an answer… and, despite his terror, even Dos couldn't help but be amused when Laura turned her back on Dialga in response and pouted, "Why do I hafta wait 'till I'm older? Thirteen is _forever_ away!"_

_Dialga rolled his eyes in exasperation that was tinged with amusement before he stood up and gently grabbed the back of Laura's dress with his teeth. She squealed in surprise when he lifted her into the air and settled her onto his neck. Then Dialga slammed the ground with his tail, causing Dos to lose his footing and the origami shapes to be thrown into the air. As gravity kicked in, Dialga used his temporal powers to freeze the shapes in midair, causing Laura to laugh._

_Dos was shocked and rubbed his eyes in disbelief when he saw Dialga actually _smile _at Laura's attempts to grab one of the floating figurines. For a moment, he actually seemed… normal. As if the dark future hadn't affected his personality and caused him to become twisted… But the illusion vanished when he then whipped around and harshly growled out an order._

_Dusknoir bowed and said, "Yes, Master." Then he turned to Dos and ordered, "Come," before floating away from the pinnacle, with Dos quickly following._

_As soon as the two were out of Dialga's earshot, Dusknoir turned to Dos and demanded, "What in the _world_ is so important that you interrupted Laura's visit with Master Dialga?!"_

_Dos flinched. "Wheh heh heh… Our leader and the other sableye you sent with him are back from their mission… and our leader… he's hurt."_

* * *

Cinq groaned as he blinked back into consciousness. He winced and shaded his eyes with his claws; he had forgotten how bright the sun was… even if it _was_ being filtered through leaves.

In the background, he could hear Trois shrieking, "AUGH! I'm blind! I'm blind!" before he heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh, indicating that someone—probably Un—had smacked him. His suspicions were proven correct when he heard Un say, "Then _stop_ staring at the sun, moron!"

Cinq rolled his eyes before getting up and sizing up the situation: Seis was struggling to get to his feet, Cuatro was trying to coax the terrified Dos out of the fetal position, and Trois and Un had gotten into an argument, with Trois holding his head from where Un had smacked it. Dusknoir, meanwhile, was studying the surroundings.

"Wheh heh heh… Lord Dusknoir? Where did Master Dialga send us?" Cinq asked.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Dusknoir murmured. "He opened it to an area near where Grovyle ended up… but that still doesn't help us with a location."

Cinq frowned before sweeping his gaze over the trees. "Well… it _looks_ like that forest that Celebi would always send us to when we were sent to pick flowers, wheh heh heh…" Cinq reported.

"Really?" Dusknoir asked, turning towards him in surprise. "In that case… everyone! Gather around!" he ordered.

The sableye immediately stopped what they were doing and complied (although it took two of them to drag Dos over). As soon as Dusknoir saw that he had their attention, he said, "Cinq has noticed that this forest bears a striking resemblance to the Eastern Forest—where some of you have been sent before in order to gather flowers. In order to ascertain whether that _is_ our location, I want Cinq, Un, Dos, and Cuatro to go searching for those flowers. Do you all remember what they look like?" When the sableye nodded, he said, "Good! While you four are doing that, Trois and Seis will aid me with finding food and a water supply."

With that he dismissed them, and everyone scurried away to their appointed tasks.

It wasn't long before they heard Dos call, "Wheh heh heh! I found some!"

That caused everyone to hurry over to him eagerly. But Cinq held back, feeling wary. After all, he could still remember what had happened during the 'incident' so many years ago…

* * *

_When Dos and Dusknoir made their way into the medical room, Dusknoir was surprised to see that _Celebi _was in the room along with the other sableye, sharing their worry as they stared at the pokémon on the examination table. For the moment, however, he ignored her and turned his focus towards the sableye's injured leader._

_The leader… he had many deep gashes. Most of them had—thankfully—stopped bleeding, but there were a few that would require stiches. Dusknoir didn't feel any broken bones, but the sableye's left shoulder had been dislocated, and—despite being unconscious—he still grimaced in pain when Dusknoir popped it back into place. _

_Once he had treated the sableye enough that his injuries were no longer life threatening, he took a moment to question Celebi about why she was there. "Celebi, you do realize that your presence here is breaking Master Dialga's conditions for your survival, yes?"_

_Celebi rolled her eyes. "Of _course _I do. But I couldn't just leave those two alone!" She gestured towards the other sableye who had gone back to the past before saying, "The leader was already unconscious when they returned; he would've had to carry him, which would have severely hindered his ability to fight. And you _know_ that the scent of blood would have attracted someone. All I did was teleport them here and help them into this room."_

_Dusknoir sighed and kneaded his forehead. She had a point… "…All right," he said. "Thank you for your help, but now you need to leave."_

"_Fine," Celebi sighed in exasperation. As she drifted backwards in order to prepare to teleport, Dusknoir caught her mumbling to herself, "I never had these problems in my _old_ home. Oh, no. The most I had to deal with _there_ was stopping my dear Treecko from overworking himself during training and helping him fend off those stunky siblings with the vendetta!"_

_Dusknoir turned back towards his patient, rolling his eye when he saw the flash of light out of the corner that signaled her departure._

"_So what exactly happened?" he asked the other sableye who had gone on the mission._

"_Wheh heh heh… W-well, we got to the past and found the flowers with no problems, but just when we were about to pick some… those unown attacked us."_

_Dusknoir whipped around and gaped at him in shock. "_Unown_ did this? But they're Psychic-types! He should have been immune!"_

"_Wheh heh heh! I _know_ that! But those unown… as soon as they realized that we wanted the flowers, they went _ballistic_! They started ranting about treasures and gifts and rainbows…"_

_Dusknoir frowned. "That makes no sense… that isn't even their natural habitat, so why…?"_

_The sableye gulped. "It… was terrifying, wheh heh heh… But… at least he managed to pick some of the flowers."_

_Dusknoir mumbled something about "small mercies" before ordering, "Put them in a vase and then bring them back here; I'll give them to Laura when I collect her from her visit."_

* * *

Cinq glanced around. He really should have been helping the others pack up camp in preparation for their move closer to Treasure Town… but he just couldn't leave before visiting the cluster of flowers one last time. It made no sense. The group had been in the past for a while now, and they had seen _many_ other, much _larger_ clusters of the white flowers. And, despite the flower's semi-rare status, he was sure that they would find many _more_ clusters during their stay in the past because, unlike most others, the sableye knew where to _look_ for them. But even with that logic… he still kept finding himself drawn to the cluster Dos had found when they first arrived. It was probably because of the number of flowers it contained: five.

He didn't really understand why that number seemed so significant to him. Yes, it _was_ his namesake… but none of the other sableye had seemed fixated on _their_ numbers whenever they encountered them. But… maybe it wasn't so much the _number_ as its combination with the flower cluster.

"_That must be it,_" Cinq mused as he put his hand into his treasure bag and searched around for something. _"It's because it reminds me so much of Laura…"_

He smiled as he felt his claws brush the paper crown that was his personal treasure, and then he dug his claws into the soil, removing the cluster—roots and all—from the ground.

* * *

"…_I'm sorry," the sableye leader heard a voice quietly say. He turned around in surprise from his guard-duty post to see that Laura had come up to the bars._

"_Wheh heh heh…?" he questioned. As he watched Laura's eyes rove around to examine the bandages on his body, he understood. "Oh! No, Miss Laura. This isn't your fault."_

_When Laura merely frowned and looked back at the vase containing the five measly, already wilting flowers that he had managed to retrieve from the midst of the angry unown horde, indicating that she didn't believe him, he sighed._

"_Really, Miss Laura, it isn't," he assured. "Yes, the flowers were for you… but I knew the risks when I volunteered. Besides… I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the sun again, wheh heh heh…"_

_Laura cocked her head. "So why didn't you just step outside the tower?" she asked._

_The sableye stared at her in disbelief before mentally cringing when he remembered the secret that he was supposed to be keeping from her. He hastily tried to think of an excuse. "Uh… um… Wheh heh heh… W-well I meant the sun, uh… filtering through the leaves. Of the, uh… you know. The forest. Which requires a longer and more dangerous journey than merely stepping outside."_

_Laura hummed, accepting the explanation, before toddling over to her art box and getting out some supplies. The sableye rolled his eyes at her antics before turning his attention back to the hallway._

* * *

While everyone else circled around Dos and peppered him with questions about what had happened when he had encountered Laura in Treasure Town, Cinq snuck off to where he had re-planted the flowers from the Eastern Forest. He had been worried that they would be killed or stunted during the journey, but they appeared to be flourishing.

As he studied them, he thought of Laura. He was relieved that Dos had reported that—despite her injuries—she was doing well. Still… he wondered how she was coping with everything. It _had _to be disorienting and confusing to suddenly find yourself in a different body, and he highly doubted that the situation would improve much with time. Then again, she did have amnesia, so maybe it wasn't _too_ bad.

But that thought, of course, brought its own set of worries. He had never seen the aftermath one of her "episodes" firsthand, so he couldn't be sure if this was what it looked like… but if it was, then he had a whole, newfound respect for Grovyle. Finding out that Laura had forgotten _everything_ had been devastating—especially for Dos—once the sableye had really gotten a chance to absorb the information and contemplate what that entailed. It made Cinq think twice about whether they were doing the right thing.

Laura… from what he'd heard from Dos and Dusknoir, it seemed like she was happy here. And when he thought about her culture and past (ignoring her _psychotic,_ so-called "guardians"), he just _knew_ that this was the type of world she belonged in. Were they really doing the right thing in returning her to Primal Dialga? He didn't know anymore.

Cinq sighed and studied the flowers. He quickly flexed a claw and cut them down, leaving as much of their stems attached as was possible. Then he sat down, gathered them into his lap, and got out his personal treasure to use as a reference. He couldn't foretell how happy Laura would end up being in the future… but he knew something that he could do to make her happy now…

* * *

"_Cinq!" Laura called out. _

_The sableye frowned in confusion at the unfamiliar word and turned around, eyes widening at the giant stain of green paint on Laura's dress._

"_Uh… Miss Laura…?" he asked in bewilderment._

_Laura grinned and thrust something into his hands. He looked down at it. It appeared to be some sort of paper wreath. She had pained it green, which would explain the stains on her dress, and had sewn five origami figures onto it. Their shape seemed familiar… the sableye glanced past Laura, and a glimpse of the vase of flowers confirmed his suspicions. The origami shapes were supposed to be flowers. They were even painted to look like their real-life counterparts: white with yellow centers._

"_It's a crown," Laura explained._

_The sableye wasn't entirely sure how to respond. "Um, thank you, but… whe heh heh… why did you…?"_

_Laura grinned. "It's to thank you for the flowers, Cinq."_

"…'_Cinq.' Is that, uh… are you referring to me?" the sableye asked, blushing slightly with embarrassment at how touched he felt by the present. When Laura's grin widened and she nodded, 'Cinq' matched it with a grin of his own and asked, "Is that another Spanish word?"_

"_Nuh uh," Laura replied with a small shake of her head. "It's _French_, for 'five.'"_

_Cinq chuckled as he placed the crown on his head. "Wheh heh heh… is that a reference to the flowers?" he asked._

_He laughed harder when her blush confirmed his suspicions._

* * *

Laura scowled as she sat in bed. She would have crossed her arms in annoyance if the one that was still in the splint didn't hurt so much every time she moved it…

"You see? This is why I told you to take a _short_ walk yesterday!" Chatot scolded. "You overexerted yourself, which is why you now have this fever!"

Laura just scowled deeper and turned her back on him. Chatot sighed. "I know that you're tired of staying in bed," he sympathized, "but it's necessary if you want yourself to continue healing as quickly as you have been. Honestly, Laura, for one who was as close to death as you were, it's remarkable that you were even well enough to walk yesterday!"

Laura just sighed, turning back around and relaxing her scowl as she stared at her hands in her lap.

Chatot gave her an encouraging smile and turned to go. "I'll leave you to your rest now," he told her. "But be sure to call if you need any—"

He was cut off when Wigglytuff burst into the room, curious apprentices in tow, exclaiming, "Look! Look! Someone left a present outside the gate for friendly-friend Laura!"

He placed the item on her lap, grinning at her stunned expression. Then Laura hesitantly picked it up to examine. It appeared to be some sort of wreath… as she studied it, Laura caught a sweet scent and smiled once she realized that it was woven out of flowers. Their white petals felt so soft and smooth, like satin or velvet, and each flower held a pretty, yellow center. There appeared to be five total.

"Oh!" Chatot suddenly exclaimed. "Guildmaster… aren't those flowers the same ones we saw in the—I mean, during our first exploration?"

"Yep!" Wigglytuff said, a grin on his face.

"But those flowers… aren't they supposed to be hard to find?"

"Yep!"

"Oh my gosh! Really?" Sunflora asked. "So who would send some to Laura?"

"Meh heh heh… A secret admirer, perhaps?" Croagunk theorized, hoping to get a reaction out of Laura.

Unfortunately for him, she was too busy studying the wreath to notice. She turned it around in her hands for a few moments and noticed that it had a tag with a message tied to it. She pulled it off and read it before hesitantly placing the wreath on her head.

"Oh! It's a crown!" Paula exclaimed. "It looks good on you."

Laura blushed, but then Loudred commented, "That just makes it even MORE mysterious! Why would someone send Laura a CROWN?"

"…I don't know," Laura said. "But… apparently it's from a friend. At least… that's what the note says."

"Oh? It had a note?" Chatot asked. "Would you mind letting me read it?"

Laura shrugged and handed him the tag, and Chatot cleared his throat before reading it aloud, "_Dear Miss Laura, I'm sorry that you got hurt, but I'm glad that you're feeling better. Please accept this crown as a wish that, whatever trials come your way, you'll always be happy in the end. Signed, A Friend_"

Once Chatot finished reading the note, Loudred snickered. "I bet you're RIGHT, Croagunk. That '_friend_'of hers DOES sound like he has a crush! He even called Laura MISS!"

"Ooh… how romantic!" Chimecho sighed.

Laura just rolled her eyes before reaching up to touch the crown once more. She smiled softly, _"Well…_ whoever_ you are,"_ she thought to herself as she fingered the silky flower petals, _"thank you for the gift, my flowery friend…"_


	35. Chapter 35: Far Too Familiar

**Chapter 35: Far Too Familiar**

Dusknoir sighed and massaged his forehead as he made his way towards the crossroads. He was in a bad mood, and the headache that he felt coming on wasn't helping.

He knew one thing for sure: that was the _last _time he would let his minions tell horror stories when they were on a mission. Honestly, what was even the _appeal_ of those stories? If they wanted to experience fear, they didn't have to rely on all this fictitious nonsense; they just had to look at their _real_ lives.

He shook his head, remembering that story Un had told about the disembodied krabby claw. That was in _no way_ scary. Dos' story on the other hand… he shivered. He hadn't expected the normally nervous and panicky Dos to tell such a horrifying tale of demonic deception. What's more, Dos claimed that _Laura_ was the one who originally told it to him!

But where would she have even heard that story? It had to have been before she was in his custody… but he doubted that her "guardians" would have told it to her. Not that he would put it past them to have used scare tactics on her to get her to "behave" (as if she wasn't _already_ obeying their every command…), but… he didn't think that they would have bothered "wasting" that much time interacting with her. Unfortunately… that meant that she most likely made up that story on her own. And, seeing as she had shared it with Dos, that meant that the only opportunity she would have had to do so would have been when she was a mere _toddler_.

He shook his head. It wouldn't do him any good to focus on the past like that. The point was, the story had proved to be so terrifying that no one (including him, he had to sheepishly admit) had been able to fall asleep until almost dawn. Which meant that everyone had overslept… which meant that they were now off schedule.

Dusknoir sighed when he finally reached the crossroads. He glanced in the direction of Wigglytuff's Guild before shaking his head again. He had hoped to go back there again today to gather more information… but from the observations he'd been making of their routine the past few days, he knew that the apprentices all left the guild to do their jobs early in the morning and sometimes didn't return until late evening. And judging by the position of the sun, it was late enough now that the guild would be almost empty.

He sighed again and tried to think of another good place to get information. He briefly considered heading over to the Kecleon Brothers' Shop, but immediately dismissed the idea. While the two brothers _were_ a fount of information, most of that information was actually useless gossip. Honestly, he had spent over an _hour_ there two days ago, and the only useful thing he had learned was that the intriguing young treecko he had met a few days prior (and whose name he still didn't know, he realized) was part of an exploration team called Team Rainbow. He doubted that the name had anything to do with the rainbows in Laura's favorite legend, but it was still an interesting coincidence.

In any case, as he pondered his predicament, his eyes caught sight of a sign that advertised Spinda's Café. For some reason, that name nagged at his mind…

"_Spinda's Café…"_ he repeated to himself, trying to remember. He blinked when it suddenly came to him. _"Ah… That's right. This was _another_ place that was favored by explorers in the past… or should I say the _present_…?"_

Dusknoir stood there, considering his options, before shrugging and heading towards it.

"_I might as well,"_ he reasoned. _"There's always a possibility that I'll find out some useful information…"_

* * *

The instant Dusknoir entered the café, his eardrums were immediately assaulted by someone loudly exclaiming, "No way! _That's_ what a chicken looks like?"

Dusknoir winced at the loud noise before looking around to see who had caused it. His eye widened in surprise when he found the source. There, sitting at a small table in the back of the café and enjoying their drinks, was Team Rainbow. Paula, the pikachu, was chattering excitedly and the treecko was nodding her head. Dusknoir decided that this deserved further investigation, so he drifted forward.

"Well, _this _is a surprise," Dusknoir commented once he reached their table.

The two girls jolted in surprise and looked up, beaming once they recognized who had addressed them.

"Dusknoir, sir!" Paula exclaimed. "What brings you here?" she asked while her friend hospitably gestured for him to sit in an open chair.

"I was just about to ask _you_ the same thing," Dusknoir began, taking the offered seat. "You see, _I_ am here as part of my quest for knowledge… but I was under the impression that _you two_ were busy with exploration work during this time of day…"

Paula pulled a face. "Uh… yeah… _usually_ we are. But today…" she trailed off with a wince.

"Today…?" Dusknoir prompted.

"Well… everyone kind of has the day off today because the Job Bulletin and Outlaw Notice Boards sort of… exploded."

Dusknoir stared at her, dumbfounded.

The treecko's simple explanation was, "Angry voltorbs. And a baltoy."

Dusknoir winced. "Ah… Yes, Self-Destruct _can_ do a fair bit of damage," he said in understanding.

"Yeah," Paula nodded, "and since we can't get any new jobs until tomorrow, Wigglytuff just gave everyone the day off. We decided to spend it here rather than risk ticking off Chatot even _more_ by staying at the guild."

Dusknoir gave an amused chuckle at this. "I see. So you've been busying yourselves here with…" he trailed off and his eye widened when he realized what was on the table. Small figurines made of folded paper were strewn on the table, with a stack of unfolded papers sitting right on the edge. "…Origami…?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"No way! _You_ know about this too?" Paula asked in surprise. "Wow! I only learned about it today when my partner here showed me!"

At this, Dusknoir whipped around to stare at the treecko in surprise. "Really? _You're_ the one who folded these?" he asked. The treecko nodded shyly, causing him to ask, "Where did you learn how to do this? This is a rare art form!"

The treecko blinked in surprise. "…Really?"

"Indeed. After all, the shapes _are_ based on creatures generally known only to humans."

When the treecko's surprise melted into confusion, Dusknoir frowned briefly before turning to the figurines in order to give her a visual. "Take this one, for example," he said, picking up one of the Flying-type-looking figurines. "This is a human animal known as a 'chicken.' When I came in, Paula's exclamation was because of her surprise at seeing this, correct?" He paused to make sure that she was following him, and when she nodded, he continued, "Well, her surprise stemmed from the fact that 'animals' do not exist in this world."

The treecko frowned. "But… you once used the word 'chicken' as a descriptive term," she said, turning to Paula.

Paula frowned as well. "That's true," she admitted, "but… I'd still never seen one before. I didn't know it was a type of… what was that word? 'Animal?'"

"…That doesn't make sense," the treecko muttered.

"What doesn't?" Dusknoir asked.

"It's just… how can animals be unknown here when many pokémon species are _named_ for animals?"

"They _are_?" Paula asked in surprise. "Which ones?"

"Well for one… _yours_, Paula," the treecko said, causing her friend's eyes to widen. "'Pikachu' is known as the _mouse_ pokémon. And look…" she paused a moment and searched her pile of origami figures before holding out a specific one and finishing, "…_this_ is a mouse."

As her friend studied the paper mouse in wonder, the treecko searched the pile for another figurine, saying, "There's also _my_ species: Treecko—the wood gecko pokémon."

She handed her friend a gecko origami creature and then crossed her arms. "So I just don't understand why…" she trailed off in frustration.

"…Good point," Paula agreed, frowning. "That really _doesn't_ make much sense. Why _are_ we named for animals if none exist here?"

The two pondered that for a moment before sharing a glance and turning expectantly towards Dusknoir. He was momentarily confused as to why, but then he mentally cringed as he remembered, _"Ah… Right. Everyone in the past considers me to be 'all-knowing.'"_

Dusknoir drummed his fingers on the table trying to think up an answer for them. He faintly remembered Primal Dialga telling the inquisitive Laura something about it once…

He cleared his throat. "Well… I once heard it said that when Arceus created the world and its inhabitants, he had a bit of… human inspiration."

The young explorers gasped in shock. "What?!" Paula demanded. "So… so he went out and got a human to name us? Is that what you're saying?"

Dusknoir frowned. He wasn't really sure himself… Dialga had never given an outright answer to Laura when she asked questions like that, and as she rarely asked such questions in the first place and all his information on the subject was generally gotten secondhand through her…

"Not necessarily," he finally answered. "He could have just observed animals and learned their names from looking through a portal to the human world."

"Portals can be opened to the human world?" the treecko asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

Dusknoir blinked and mentally cringed. He probably shouldn't have said that… quickly he tried to think of an excuse to cover his tracks.

"…Theoretically, I suppose," he finally settled on. "But I would imagine that it would require a _substantial_ amount of power. I doubt that any pokémon but a legendary could accomplish such a feat."

The two girls nodded; they supposed that made sense. Dusknoir felt highly relieved, but just to be safe… "Also," he added, "If Arceus _did_, indeed, get his inspiration from looking in on the human world, he might not have created a portal purposefully."

The treecko cocked her head while her friend asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I can't imagine that the world would have been a very stable place in its infancy. That instability could have been what created a portal to the human world. Or Arceus could have accidentally done so during his creation of the world."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Paula said.

Her friend nodded before pausing and frowning. "…Does that mean that humans existed before Arceus did?" she asked.

That thought gave both Paula and Dusknoir a pause.

"I… honestly don't know," Dusknoir admitted. "And in any case… remember, all of this is just hearsay; it is possible that everything I have just told you is wrong."

"Well, it's better than anything _we_ could come up with," Paula said with a shrug.

There was an awkward pause for a moment, broken when the treecko suddenly announced, "I'd like to meet Arceus someday."

Paula gaped at her and spluttered, "W-_why_?"

The treecko shrugged. "I dunno. He just sounds like a cool guy."

Paula rolled her eyes and scoffed, "More like a completely _terrifying _guy. Don't you remember all those stories I told you about what happens when he gets enraged?"

The treecko rolled her own eyes in response. "Well, _yeah_," she answered. "But that doesn't mean…"

The two friends began a mini-argument on the subject, but Dusknoir didn't take part in it. He was too busy staring at the treecko in shock. Those words the treecko had said about Arceus… he _distinctly_ remembered Laura once saying the _exact_ _same_ things to him in the _exact same_ tone of voice. In fact, this _whole_ argument sounded _very_ familiar to him…

"… of course, I shouldn't really be surprised to hear you say that," Paula was saying. "I mean, it's not the _first_ time you've had weird tastes. Take right now! You're_ willingly_ drinking a Plain Seed smoothie, for crying out loud!"

Dusknoir blinked. Apparently he'd missed a lot of their conversation. Then he blinked again. "Are you_ really_ drinking a Plain Seed smoothie?" he asked the treecko in surprise. When she nodded, his eye widened in further astonishment. "And you're _enjoying_ it?" he asked incredulously.

This time the treecko scowled in annoyance and turned her back on him before nodding.

"Plain Seeds are her favorite food," Paula explained.

Dusknoir looked at Paula, stunned, before slowly turning his attention back to the treecko. This all seemed a bit _too_ coincidental for his liking… A sudden thought came to him. At first he brushed it off as an insane possibility, but when it continued to nag at his mind, he warily said to the treecko, "You know, I don't believe I ever caught your name…"

The scowl fell off the treecko's face and she blinked in surprised realization and turned towards him. "It's L—" she began, before being cut off when a female hariyama burst into the room, frantically shouting, "Help! Someone, PLEASE help me!"

Team Rainbow immediately sprang into action. "What's wrong?" Paula asked in concern.

"It's my son! My little Makuhita! He went out to play in Apple Woods… but he hasn't returned! I've been searching for _hours_, but I can't find him!" the panicking mother sobbed.

"Don't worry," Paula assured. "Team Rainbow is on the case!"

She and her friend dashed for the door before Paula skidded to a halt and called back, "Oh! Sorry for leaving you alone, Dusknoir, sir, but—!"

"It's quite all right," Dusknoir assured, waving them off. "This sounds like an emergency. We can chat again later."

The duo nodded before dashing out the door.

Dusknoir chuckled; those two sure were dedicated to their work… He dropped his hand back onto the table, frowning when he felt something poke it. He glanced at the table and saw that, in their hurry, Team Rainbow had forgotten to collect the treecko's origami figurines. Ah, well. He could always return them to her later.

"_Besides,"_ he mused, _"it would be a perfect excuse to visit her and fish some information out of her…"_

He lifted his hand to see what sort of origami creature lay under it and frowned when he saw that it was a crane.

"_Of _course_ it would be a figurine of the same kind as the one Laura first showed me…"_

He sighed at the irony before sweeping the paper creatures and unused supplies into his treasure bag before heading up to the counter, intending to order a drink.

As he sat down with his glass of Purple Gummi juice, he kneaded his forehead. His headache was coming back, but this time it wasn't caused by tiredness. No, this time it was caused by his racing thoughts about the new information he had just recieved, all of which led back to one, simple fact: _"That treecko is _far_ too familiar…"_


	36. Chapter 36: Prison Break

**Chapter 36: Prison Break**

Grovyle moaned weakly. He slowly opened his eyes and moaned again when he realized how blurry everything looked. He kept seeing dark spots dancing across his vision… and he frowned when a few minutes passed and the darkness didn't go away. Then he internally cringed when he realized why.

"_Oh, yeah… I'm back in the dark future…"_

Grovyle shifted, trying to determine what state he was in. He could feel the bonds chafing at his wrists, but, surprisingly, the muzzle had been removed from his mouth. He sat up and looked around, inspecting the prison cell he had been placed in, and he scowled when he couldn't discern any weaknesses in the structure that would allow him to escape.

"_I can't _believe_ this!"_ he mentally groaned. _"All that hard work… for nothing! What am I going to do _now_?! I don't even know where Laura is!"_

He shook his head and sighed before deciding that he may as well make himself as comfortable as possible and stretching out his legs. When he felt his foot touch something, he paused and sat back up. He looked around once more and saw that scraps of rope had been scattered on the floor of his prison cell. With great dexterity he used his feet to pull the closest scrap closer and then he bent over to examine it. With surprise, he realized that it was the muzzle he had been wearing earlier when he had been forced through the dimensional hole. What's more, it looked like it had been _cut_… but the cut… it shared the same qualities as cuts that he made with his _own _claws. So did the other scraps on the floor… But… he was tied up. There was _no way_ that he could have cut them.

He frowned in confusion, and then he jolted when he heard a soft sob coming from the hallway. It sounded very familiar… He blinked when the reason came to him, and he immediately looked down at his bonds. He shifted around a bit and confirmed his suspicions: _someone_ had untied him, used his claws to cut up the old ropes and the muzzle, and then re-tied him using new ropes. And, thanks to the sob, he had a _pretty good_ idea of who that "someone" was…

"Dos," he called softly, giving a brief, amused grin when he heard the sableye give a startled, "Eep!" in surprise.

"Dos, what are you doing?" Grovyle asked, turning to face the bars just in time to see Dos slowly shuffle into view. He frowned when he noticed the tear tracks on the sableye's face.

"Wheh heh heh… I'm, uh… I'm guarding you! S-so you don't, you know… escape," he said, finishing rather lamely.

"Oh really?" Grovyle asked, raising a brow. "Well if you don't want me to escape, then why did you take the risk of untying me?"

Dos jolted before looking away evasively and nervously saying, "I-I don't know what you're talking about! _You're_ the one who broke free and attacked _me_! See?" He thrust out an arm, and Grovyle saw several gashes which did, in fact, look like they had been caused by his claws. But he had been unconscious this whole time! There was _no way_ he could have…

His thoughts trailed off when he saw the pleading look in Dos' eyes and he sighed, deciding, for now, at least, to play along with the charade that Dos had obviously created.

"Okay, fine. So I attacked you. Is that why you're crying?" he asked.

"Wheh heh heh?! No! I'm not so weak that I'd cry at a small scratch like _that!"_ Dos exclaimed in indignation.

"So then why _are_ you crying?"

Dos opened his mouth to make an excuse, but upon seeing Grovyle's look he closed it and sighed, deciding to tell the truth. "I'm… I'm worried about Laura," he quietly admitted.

Grovyle bit his lip and sighed. "What are you worrying about? She's strong. She can take care of herself," he offered, displaying false confidence.

"I-I know that, but…" he sighed. "I'm worried that she's going to hate us forever…"

"You mean after you execute me?" Grovyle asked in a deadpan voice, causing Dos to wince and guiltily nod his head.

"That's… that's part of it," he quietly admitted.

Grovyle rolled his eyes and then, without really knowing why he was doing it, tried to comfort Dos by saying, "Well… I'm sure that she'll be _upset_, but I doubt that she'll _hate_ you… she _has_ been through worse…"

"Yeah, but she can't _remember _any of that, wheh heh heh…" Dos mumbled so quietly that Grovyle _almost_ didn't catch it. But he _did_ catch it, and the implications terrified him.

"…What do you mean?" he demanded.

Dos jolted and looked away. "N-nothing!"

"Dos…" Grovyle growled angrily.

"Wheh heh heh! No! I didn't mean anything!" Dos said, frantically waving his arms.

Grovyle glared at him suspiciously, but then he turned away, sighed, and decided to change subjects. "You know… there _is_ a way to avoid upsetting her," he hinted.

"R-really?" Dos asked eagerly.

"Yes," Grovyle nodded. "You could _let me go_ so that I can finish our mission."

Dos' face fell. "Oh… I… I can't do that…"

"Why not?" Grovyle demanded. "I _know_ that you don't like this world. So why are you clinging so hard to it? There's no future for you here."

Dos looked down sadly, mumbling, "I… I know that, but, wheh heh heh… I don't want to lose Laura. And M-Master Dialga is _sure_ that if the past gets changed, something bad will happen to her…"

Grovyle sighed. "I don't want her to disappear either," he agreed, "but—"

Dos shook his head. "Wheh heh heh… No, if _that's_ all it was, then I wouldn't have any reason to worry."

The admittance stopped Grovyle short. "…What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

Dos blinked in surprise. "She didn't tell you?" he asked.

"Tell me _what_?"

Dos frowned, seeming to ponder something, before shaking his head. "Sorry," he apologized, "but if she didn't tell you, then I don't think she wants you to know. And I can kind of understand her reasons..."

Grovyle groaned in annoyance and glared angrily at him. "Well if you're so keen on respecting her wishes, then why don't you also respect her wish to change the world?" he demanded. "Forget about whatever it is that's worrying Dialga; if _you're_ truly her friend, then you should be _helping_ her, not trying to drag her back into life as a prisoner!"

Dos surprised Grovyle by looking him straight in the eyes and declaring in a serious tone, "I _know_. That's what I'm trying to _do_."

Grovyle blinked. "Beg pardon?" he asked in confusion.

Dos glanced around before turning his back on Grovyle and assuming the proper guard position.

"Listen," he whispered urgently, "The ropes we always use to tie prisoners to the stakes… they're nothing special. Our sharp claws can easily cut through them."

Grovyle was confused by Dos' willingness to expose trade secrets, but he wasn't about to let the words go to waste. He leaned forward, eager to hear what Dos had to say.

"It's really a dumb idea when you think about it, wheh heh heh," Dos continued, "because our claws are the preferred method around here. We _always_ use Fury Swipes during an execution, and since we're putting as much power into them as possible, our attacks don't always hit their targets…"

"…Okay, I get what you're saying," Grovyle nodded. "But even if I tried to use that as an avenue for escape, you'd still have me boxed in. And you'd still be able to _see_ me…"

Dos shrugged. "So make yourself some room and create a distraction."

"With what? A Luminous Orb?" Grovyle scoffed. "You guys took away my treasure bag after you captured me at Crystal Cave."

Dos shifted nervously. "Um…"

Grovyle blinked, and his eyes widened when he was hit with a sudden thought. He shifted around again and, sure enough, he could feel his treasure bag pressed against his chest, its location easily accessible.

"But… how…?" he murmured in awe.

"Seis might be the best actor… but _I'm_ the best at stealth," Dos explained in a proud tone of voice.

Grovyle gave a sharp intake of breath when the pieces fell into place. The cut ropes… the gashes on Dos' arm… suddenly the charade made sense. Grovyle looked at Dos with new eyes.

"…Thank you," he said, using the most sincere voice he was capable of.

Dos spared him a small glance and grin before turning back around and loudly proclaiming, "I don't know why you're thanking me, wheh heh heh… Is it because I didn't put a muzzle back on you? Well I _would_ have if they'd given me more rope…"

Grovyle turned his back on Dos, grinning widely and playing along. "No," he said. "I'm thanking _Arceus_ for your _bad luck_ in _not_ having enough rope."

"It's not my _bad luck_, wheh heh heh… It's Un's selfishness and lack of proper planning!"

Grovyle gave a small chuckle and shook his head in amusement. But then he became silent when Dos suddenly addressed him with a nervous whisper once again.

"Oh, and one more thing… If you _do_ manage to escape, can you please take Team Rainbow with you?"

Grovyle turned back around to look at him and frowned. "Team Rainbow? From the _past_? What are _they_ doing here?"

He was surprised by Dos' rather condescending look and mutter of, "Huh. I thought you were more observant than that. You never realized that the treecko was actually—"

But whatever Dos was about to say was cut off by a loud "CLANG!" as a door further down the hall opened and Cinq scurried into view.

"Dos! It's time!" he said.

"Wheh heh heh… Already?" Dos asked in surprise. "I didn't think the medication would wear off _that_ quickly…"

Cinq shrugged. "Neither did I, but it doesn't matter. It's time to—what happened to your arm? And why isn't Grovyle muzzled anymore?!" he fearfully demanded upon catching sight of the non-muzzled Grovyle.

"Uh… um…" Dos nervously stammered. Grovyle wasn't sure if it was real or faked, but, either way, he decided not to risk it.

"The gashes are because I broke free and attacked him," he said smugly. "As for the muzzle… well, you should really have a talk with Un about his selfishness regarding supplies."

Cinq rolled his eyes and grumbled something along the lines of, "I should have known," before going to open the cell.

Grovyle didn't even bother trying to escape, knowing that an attempt when he was trussed up would be useless, but when Dos went behind him to tie on the blindfold, he hurriedly murmured, quietly enough that only Dos would be able to hear, "I'll try my best regarding Team Rainbow... but if they won't cooperate, then there's nothing I can do."

Grovyle caught Dos' slight nod before he was blinded, and then he thought he heard a whispered, "Thanks."

As he was forced to walk to the stockades, Grovyle thought to himself, _"No, thank _you_ Dos. And for much more than just _this_ chance at freedom. This dark world is a prison on its own... so, by helping me here, you're also helping _everyone_ with _that _'prison break'…"_


	37. Chapter 37: Truth or Dare

**Chapter 37: Truth or Dare**

"So why are the boys and girls meeting separately today?" Paula asked as she and Laura settled down in the room that was shared by Chimecho and Sunflora. It was after dinner (which had tasted even better than usual to Paula, for some reason. She chalked it up to the fact that she had been denied the meal the night before), and usually this time would be spent in an apprentice meeting held in Loudred, Corphish, and Bidoof's room. Today, however, Sunflora had promptly grabbed ahold of the Team Rainbow girls and steered them towards her own room the instant they got up from the table.

Sunflora rolled her eyes. "It's because they've chosen today to play their silly little game," she explained.

Paula's ears perked up. "They're playing a game over there?" she asked. Then she turned to Laura. "Maybe we should go over and join in. It might make you feel better after what happened earlier…"

Laura winced at the reference to her flinching at Wigglytuff before dinner, but before she could comment, Sunflora interrupted with a shake of her head. "Oh my gosh! No! That would be the complete _opposite_ of what Laura needs!" she exclaimed.

"R-really?" Paula asked in surprise. "But… why? What are they playing?"

* * *

"Okay, Bidoof! Your turn! Truth or dare?" Diglett asked.

"Golly, that's a tough one…" Bidoof muttered as he frowned in thought. "Um… Truth."

Diglett nodded and began to think of an embarrassing question. "Okay then… um… oh! I know! Bidoof, what's that pet-name your mom gave you that you're always claiming is 'the most embarrassing name in the world?'"

Bidoof immediately blushed crimson. "C-can I switch to dare?" he pleaded.

Loudred snickered, "NOPE! Rules are RULES! You've gotta answer the QUESTION!"

Bidoof's blush deepened, and he mumbled something.

"Meh heh heh… I'm sorry, what was that?" Croagunk asked gleefully.

"C-Cuddlekins McCutie-pie…" Bidoof repeated, cringing in embarrassment. Everyone burst out laughing, and it took a while before Bidoof recovered enough of his pride to stammer, "C-Corphish! T-truth or dare?"

"H-hey hey! Dare!" Corphish gasped out between giggles.

"Okay, uh… I dare you to…" Bidoof trailed off, trying to think of something good, "…to go out in the hall and ask Zubat why he's pacing in front of Team Rainbow's room!" he decided.

Corphish rolled his eyes as he got up. Sure, he wasn't a big fan of Team Skull, but Zubat was the weakest member. He was no threat, and it wasn't as if asking him a question like _that_ would cause any embarrassment. He was almost disappointed with the ease of his task. Honestly, it was a waste of a turn, especially since he had _already_ been considering going out and asking what was up, since Zubat's loud mutterings were becoming distracting.

Corphish didn't even bother going out fully into the hall. He just poked his head around the corner and called, "Hey, Zubat!"

Zubat, who had been lost in his own thoughts, was startled so badly that he momentarily lost his grip on the small bag he was holding and almost fell out of the air.

"Wh-what?!" he demanded, whipping around.

"Why are you pacing and muttering over there?"

"I… I, uh… It… it's none of your business!" he stammered out. "I'm not hurting anyone! I can pace anywhere I want!"

Corphish rolled his eyes again and said, "Well, hey, hey! At least keep your muttering down! It's really annoying!"

"You're not the boss of me!" Corphish heard Zubat call as he retreated back into his room now that the dare was complete. Nonetheless, he did quiet down.

"Hey, hey! So, Croagunk… Truth or dare?" Corphish asked.

"Meh heh heh… hm…" Croagunk said, stroking his chin in thought. "I'm going to go with… _dare_."

Corphish smirked evilly. This was going to be good… "Hey, hey! I dare you to go into the other room and… kiss one of the girls!"

There was a beat of shocked silence before everyone else took up the evil grin and looked in Croagunk's direction. This _would_ be priceless…

Croagunk sat up from where he had been lounging on his side. He looked thoughtful. "Meh heh heh… _Any_ of the girls?" he asked.

"Any of them but Laura, hey, hey!" Corphish answered quickly. "She's already under enough stress," he murmured, remembering how oddly she'd been behaving lately.

"Fine, then," Croagunk said with a shrug, swiftly getting up and heading towards the door with the others following eagerly behind him.

* * *

"…So then _I_ said, 'Oh my gosh! _Your_ leaves are as brown as mud, and you have the nerve to accuse _me_ of wilting?!'" Sunflora finished her tale, causing the other three to laugh.

"Oh, wow, Sunflora! How do you have so many great stories?" Paula asked, wiping a tear from her eyes. "I lived in a forest too, but we didn't have _nearly_ as much drama as you! Unless you count my brother's attempts at flirting…"

"Well, perhaps we were just special," Sunflora giggled. Then she turned to her roommate. "What about you, Chimecho? Did you get much drama in the swamp?"

"Oh, no. It was nothing like that," Chimecho assured, shaking her head. "Although, there _was_ this one time when Cr—"

Chimecho cut off when she felt someone tap her back and she turned around…

…to come face to face with Croagunk, who, before she even had a chance to ask what he wanted, pulled her into a kiss.

The other girls stared at them, slack-jawed.

Chimecho was stunned as Croagunk pulled away, but he merely winked at her and jerked his head back in the direction of the boys, who were peeking around the doorframe as they tried—and failed—to be subtle.

Chimecho's stunned expression melted into understanding, and she shook her head in amusement, a sly smile on her face. "Really, Croagunk? Was that the best you could do?" she asked teasingly.

Croagunk raised a brow. "Oh? Meh heh heh… You think you could do better?"

"Yes. See?" Chimecho said as she hauled him into a kiss of her own.

This caused the boys to go slack-jawed as well.

There were several long moments of awkward silence before the two broke apart. Chimecho gave a subtle wink of her own before turning back to the girls and continuing with the conversation they'd been having before being so "rudely" interrupted. "So as I was saying…"

Croagunk nonchalantly exited the girls' room and called back to the males, who were instinctively following him as they tried to get their brains back online, "Meh heh heh… So, Loudred… Truth or dare?"

"Uh… D-DARE…" Loudred stammered, too stunned to really think about what he was saying. He immediately gulped in regret over that fact when he caught Croagunk's smirk.

"Really…? Well, okay then…" Croagunk trailed off ominously as he slipped a rancid-looking piece of food out of the treasure bag that he had left in the other room. "I dare you to…"

* * *

Everyone winced as the horrific sound of Loudred's retching once more echoed out into the hall. Sunflora was barely suppressing a gag of her own while Chimecho was sighing and shaking her head at Croagunk's snickering. Paula and Laura looked disgusted while Bidoof and Diglett looked sympathetic. Dugtrio and Corphish were having trouble holding back hearty laughter, but Skuntank and Koffing didn't even bother to hold it back and were laughing hysterically. Zubat, however, appeared to be sulking for some reason…

There was a pause in the noise and a rather harried-looking Chatot poked his head out into the hall. "All right, which one of you gave him the Grimy Food?" he demanded angrily (causing Laura to flinch and shrink behind Paula).

Croagunk proudly raised his hand, ignoring Chatot's glare. Chatot opened his mouth to give a reprimand… but was interrupted when Loudred began retching again. With a groan, Chatot pulled his head back into the room, muttering, "I'll deal with you later…"

Oh, yeah. Croagunk was _so_ getting in trouble for this.

_"Meh heh heh... But_ _it was totally worth it,"_ he decided.

It was just too bad that from now on they would probably be banned from playing Truth or Dare…


	38. Chapter 38: Sunburned

**Chapter 38: Sunburned**

"Okay, Dugtrio, this should help," Chimecho said as she unscrewed the jar of Rawst Berry cream.

Normally this time of day would find Chimecho in the Mess Hall, preparing dinner, but Wigglytuff had decided that cooking sounded "super-fun" and he wanted to try his own hand at it tonight.

"Besides! Friendly-friend Chimecho deserves a break!" he reasoned.

Of course, this meant that Chatot now had to hover over Wigglytuff and act as damage control, since the _last_ time the Guildmaster had held a spoon in his hand it had resulted in the explosion of Croagunk's precious Swap Cauldron (which, incidentally, had yet to be fixed, despite Croagunk's weeks of near-ceaseless effort).

But even with the break from cooking, Chimecho still found herself busy fulfilling one of her _other_ common roles: nurse.

Dugtrio gave a small sigh of relief as he felt the coolness of the cream, but his blissful moment was interrupted by Loudred's snickering.

"It is not funny!" Dugtrio said heatedly, the frustrated scowl on his face falling into a wince when his sharp turn towards Loudred irritated his sensitive skin.

"Oh, it's PRETTY funny from where I'M standing!" Loudred managed through a belly laugh.

"H-hey, hey! From over here, too!" Corphish agreed through his own snickers.

Dugtrio grumbled unintelligibly as he took stock of the room's reactions to his misery. Loudred, Corphish, Croagunk, and, surprisingly, Sunflora seemed to find the situation amusing (the jerks), Chimecho was neutral (although that could have been because she was busy smearing medicine on his back), Bidoof seemed mildly sympathetic, and his son seemed highly annoyed. Team Rainbow hadn't returned from their jobs yet, but it was approaching their usual time, so he would probably get to see their reactions in three… two…

"Hi everyone! Today's missions went _great_! We—what the-?! What _happened_ to you Dugtrio?!" Paula demanded in shock as she and Laura (whose eyes were wide with surprise) finally arrived and were met with the unexpected sight of Dugtrio, whose skin, instead of being its usual earthy tone, was as red as an Apple.

"Don't worry; it's just a sunburn," Chimecho assured them.

"A s-sunburn?" Paula repeated incredulously as she continued to stare.

"Yes. My father decided that it would be a good idea to sit out on Sharpedo Bluff to stare at the ocean _all day_. In _direct sunlight_. With _no protection_," Diglett explained, shooting another annoyed glare at his father.

Dugtrio rolled his eyes. "Ah, my son," he sighed in exasperation, "one of these days you will learn about the majesty and splendor contained within the sea…"

"'Majesty' and 'splendor?'" Diglett repeated. "Dad, it's just _water_. If you haven't forgotten, Ground-types like us are _weak _to water."

"You must look _past_ its vicious exterior to see the beauty within," Dugtrio pressed.

"You're so _stubborn_!" Diglett mumbled. "Honestly, _no one_ is as fascinated with the ocean as you!"

"That is not true!" Dugtiro denied, feeling flustered. "Laura understands _exactly_ how I feel!"

Everyone blinked in surprise and turned to Laura, whose brow had creased in confusion at Dugtrio's claim. When she felt everyone's gaze fall on her she blushed and looked down at her feet.

"HUH?" Loudred asked, turning back towards Dugtrio. "How do you figure THAT?"

The Ground-type nodded sagely (suppressing another wince at the flare of pain resulting from the movement) and addressed Laura directly, "You need not be ashamed, Laura. I have seen you many a time atop the bluff, gazing wistfully across the sea."

"Hm…" Paula hummed, tapping her chin and looking at Laura thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it, Dugtrio… Laura, I _have_ seen you concentrating intently on the ocean when we go to the Beach together."

"Meh heh heh…" Croagunk chuckled, causing Laura to squirm under his gaze. "So, we've got another member of Dugtrio's 'Ocean Cult?'"

Laura squirmed some more. "I'm not…" she trailed off, sighing, before trying again, "I just really like the beach, okay? It… it feels like _home_."

Corphish cocked his head at the confession. "Hey, hey! Really? But… you're a Grass-type. Wouldn't a forest or prairie feel more comfortable to you?" he asked curiously.

Laura shrugged. "Forests are nice, but… I like beaches better," she answered honestly.

Croagunk smirked again. "Meh heh heh… So we _do_ have another member of the cult!" he teased, causing Laura to shoot him a weak glare.

Dugtrio looked triumphantly at his son, but Diglett just rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine! So someone else likes the ocean too! But unlike you, Dad, _Laura_ won't get burned if she stays out in the sun all day!"

"Actually, that's not true," Sunflora interjected.

Diglett turned to her in surprise. "But… don't Grass-types just soak up all the sunlight to use it for…" he frowned, trying to remember the term, before turning back to his father and asking, "what did you call it, Dad? Photo-something?"

"Photosynthesis," Sunflora nodded. "That's true, but it's not as though we use _all_ of the sunlight that hits us. If Laura or I were to stand out on the bluff or Beach all day without _any_ protection… we'd probably get burned even _worse _than Dugtrio is now!" She shuddered. "Eek! Oh my gosh, it hurts just to _think_ about it!"

The non-Grass-types looked surprised. They looked back towards Laura for confirmation, but she just shrugged; she had thought that was common knowledge. Chimecho, meanwhile, finally finished slathering Dugtrio with the cream and looked him over thoughtfully. "Speaking of painful…" she began, "you'll probably be in too much pain for a while to do your regular job." As she cleaned the medicine off of her hands, she addressed Diglett, saying, "Diglett, I think that you'll have to take over."

Diglett shot his father a look. "That means someone will have to take _my_ job," he growled in annoyance. Then he glanced towards Paula and Laura and hesitantly began, "Um…Team Rainbow…?"

"Don't worry, Diglett. We've got it covered," Paula assured.

"UGH! That means I'LL have to work with you two NOVICES again…" Loudred grumbled.

"'_Novices_?'" Paula spluttered in indignation. "Hey! We've done a perfect job nearly every time we've done Sentry Duty!"

"EXACTLY!" Loudred exclaimed. "_NEARLY_ every time! If DIGLETT were doing it, it would ALWAYS be perfect!"

"Need I remind you that he couldn't identify _Laura_ when she first showed up?"

Loudred rolled his eyes and waved a hand. "That doesn't COUNT. Laura's footprints are WEIRD."

Paula scowled on behalf of her friend. "Oh yeah?" she demanded. "How so?"

"When SHE walks—"

"How she _walks_ doesn't matter! When she _stands_, like on the grate, she does it the same way as every other treecko!"

"Yeah, but it's not just about the footprint ITSELF! You have to take the APPROACH into account!"

"Now you're just making excuses!"

"Oh YEAH?"

"Yeah!"

The argument would have continued longer had Chatot not come back into the room and declared that dinner was ready, with and assurance that Wigglytuff's cooking wouldn't accidentally kill them.

…And then he caught sight of Dugtrio's new "look" and spent a moment gawking at it before chastising him for being irresponsible, a bad influence on his son, and causing an inconvenience to the guild while he healed.

* * *

"_You_ weren't sunburned," Paula noted once she and Laura had gotten settled in their own room later that evening.

Laura, who had just closed her eyes in preparation for sleep, reopened them and looked over to her friend in slight confusion. "Hm?" she asked.

"When I found you on the beach," Paula clarified, "you weren't sunburned."

Laura just frowned, not getting why Paula was bringing it up.

"It's just… Sunflora said that you would get a sunburn if you stayed out on the beach all day. So… why didn't you have one?"

Laura blinked again before her eyes widened and she sat up. "I… I don't know," she admitted.

"Maybe… Maybe you weren't actually out there that long?" Paula guessed, trying to make sense of it herself. "I mean… we still don't know how you _got_ there, so…"

Laura frowned. "No… I think… I can faintly remember opening my eyes a few times," Laura admitted. "And… I think I saw color at one point. Like… like a sunrise."

"So then how did you avoid a burn?" Paula asked in confusion. "I found you in the evening, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky that day!"

Laura frowned. "…But it _was_ dark," she murmured.

Paula looked at her. "Huh?"

"I remember… aside from the sunrise, it was always _dark_ when I opened my eyes," Laura said, crossing her arms and shaking her head, trying to relive the small headache that was blossoming. "It was as if… as if a shadow was covering me. And I heard… I heard humming…"

"Humming?" Paula repeated.

"Yes," Laura confirmed with a faint smile. "It sounded like a lullaby…"

"…That's weird," Paula murmured with a frown. "So… what? You think that someone just sat with you all day, protected you from the sun, hummed a lullaby for you, and then… abandoned you? Who would do something like that?"

Laura shrugged; she didn't know either. But then she blushed sheepishly. "I might have just imagined the humming," she admitted. "And… I might be wrong about seeing a sunrise; it could have been a sun_s__et_, assuming that I actually saw anything at all."

Paula looked thoughtful. "Yeah… that makes more sense," she agreed. "I mean… no offense, Laura, but since we know how bad your memory is, your perception of time was probably off."

Laura nodded. She wasn't offended; Paula spoke the truth.

"And if it _was_ nearing sunset," Paula continued, "then you probably _did_ just use the remaining daylight for photo… whatever Sunflora said."

"Photosynthesis."

"Yeah, that."

The two sat in silence for a few moments, pondering the mystery, before Paula shrugged and decided that it wasn't that important. "Well, in any case… at least you didn't get sunburned!"


	39. Chapter 39: Gummis

**Chapter 39: Gummis**

"You know… if THIS is the result of the Guildmaster doing Sentry Duty, then maybe he should do it EVERY day!" Loudred exclaimed happily as he shoved another handful of White Gummis into his mouth.

"Oh my gosh, Loudred, how can you say that after all the trouble that he caused today?!" Sunflora demanded.

Once again Wigglytuff had been in one of his "I want to try out the apprentices' jobs" moods and, just like last time, when he tried to do Croagunk's job of using the Swap Cauldron, it had been a _disaster._

This time he had tried out Diglett's job of Sentry Duty, and while he _had_ done a perfect job of identifying pokémon species based off of their footprints, he had done a _horrible_ job of identifying which of those pokémon should actually be let into the guild. As a result, the entire day the apprentices had been badgered by solicitors, kids playing pranks, and outlaws/family members of outlaws seeking revenge. Absolutely no work had been completed, multiple injuries had been sustained, and everyone (especially Chatot) was at the end of their rope.

Eventually things were put in their proper order and Wigglytuff, noticing how stressed everyone was (but, of course, remaining oblivious to the fact that _he_ was the _cause_ of that stress) decided to lighten the mood by dipping into his secret stash of sweets so that the apprentices could throw an impromptu "Gummi Party" during their nightly meeting.

Loudred rolled his eyes in response to Sunflora's comment. "Well OBVIOUSLY it's because any trouble is worth it if we get Gummis in the end!" he said, rather condescendingly.

Sunflora just shook her head, deciding that the argument wasn't worth it, before sifting through the giant pile of Gummis in the center of the floor and picking out a luscious Grass Gummi to eat.

"Seriously, Sunflora, you need to get your PRIORITIES straight!" Loudred said as he went for more White Gummis. But as he sifted through the pile he found that, to his horror, there were none left!

"HEY! Who took all the WHITE GUMMIS?!" he demanded in anger.

Corphish just rolled his eyes. "Hey, hey! You probably just ate all of them already. You _have_ been shoveling them into your mouth like there's no tomorrow…"

"NO WAY!" Loudred insisted. "There are ALWAYS more White Gummis than any other flavor… and there were still a TON left moments ago! SOMEONE must have taken them!"

"Why would anyone else want to take them? _You_ are the only Normal-type here," Dugtrio reasoned.

"What does that have to do with anything?" a quiet voice asked, startling everyone.

Everyone froze. Had _Laura_ just asked a _question_? And about _Gummis_, of all things? Slowly they turned towards her and, sure enough, she was sitting there with an expectant look on her face.

"Laura… have you never had Gummis before?" Dugtrio asked slowly. When Laura shook her head, his eyes widened. "Uh… W-well you see…" he stammered, trying to think of a way to explain what _should_ have been instinctual knowledge. "Gummis… each flavor corresponds to a different type of pokémon… For example, my type, Ground, corresponds to Brown Gummis while _your_ type, Grass, corresponds to Grass Gummis."

Laura frowned. "So… I'm only supposed to eat Grass Gummis?" she asked.

"Well… no. You _can_ eat other kinds… it is just that Grass Gummis would taste the best to you," Dugtrio further explained.

Laura frowned in confusion. Then she shocked everyone when she wrinkled her nose and gave the dumbfounding response, "Actually… Grass Gummis taste disgusting to me."

"_WHAT?!"_

"B-but then… what kind of Gummi have you been _eating_ for the last hour?" Sunflora asked, absolutely stunned that her Grass-type compatriot loathed the very food item that was all but worshipped among their kind.

"I tried all of them, but I like _this_ kind best," Laura replied as she nonchalantly held up a White Gummi.

"What the-?! HEY!" Loudred spluttered indignantly. "_YOU'RE_ the one who stole all my Gummis?!"

"Well, she hardly 'stole' them, Loudred. This is a communal pile," Chimecho said in Laura's defense.

"Besides… _you're_ the one acting like a glutton here." Paula added.

"A '_GLUTTON_?'" he repeated angrily. "Hey, I have every RIGHT to be a glutton when it comes to White Gummis! Even if Laura DOES like them, _I'M_ still the only Normal-type here!"

The girls frowned at his selfishness, but Laura merely rolled her eyes and pushed her pile of White Gummis over to him before beginning to assemble a new pile made entirely of Orange Gummis. But when she felt the stares of the others boring into her, she stopped and glanced up.

"This is my second-favorite type," she explained.

"But… hey, hey! Orange Gummis are the favorite of _Fighting_-types," Corphish said, feeling perplexed.

"So…?"

"Hey, hey! _So_ it doesn't make sense! Normal-types are weak against Fighting-types, so you shouldn't like _both_ of their Gummis! Or you should at least like the Orange Gummis _more_!"

At that, Laura just decided to give up. "Fine! Then I just won't eat _any_!" She declared as she pushed the Gummis back towards the pile. Then she crossed her arms and scowled at the wall, muttering, "Plain Seeds are better anyways…"

Everyone just stared at her before slowly turning back to their piles of Gummis and continuing to eat in silence.

Well… it was silent except for the scratch-scratch of pencil on paper as Croagunk added a few more entries to his list of "Weird Things about Laura."

"…_And number twenty-three…"_ he finished, _"she likes _Plain Seeds_ more than _Gummis_."_


End file.
